Whenever, Wherever
by Kamiyashi
Summary: Endless Loop 02. After the Battle City tournament draws to a close, Kaiba and Yami have to deal with the repercussions of the newfound knowledge of their ancient Egyptian lives. Will they ever come to terms with it and move on or will it be too late? KxYY
1. Part I: Forgetting to Remember

**Title: **_Whenever, Wherever_

**Series:** Part II of _Endless Loop_.

**Summary: ** After the Battle City tournament draws to a close, Kaiba and Yami have to deal with the repercussions of the newfound knowledge of their ancient Egyptian lives. Will they ever come to terms with it and move on or will it be too late?

**Pairings:** Kaiba x Yami, Priest Seto x Pharaoh Atem

**Rating**: Rated **M** for heated encounters. There will be **graphic lemons** in **Part I** and **Part III**, but I will always **post a warning** at the beginning to let you know when and to what extent they will be present.

**Disclaimer:** _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ does not and never has belonged to me.

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**A/N**: This part starts after episode Kaiba's departure to America from Alcatraz in episode 143. Please note that for this story, I followed the manga cannon and ignored the Noa arc that only happened in the anime. Also, this chapter contains **30 percent lemon **content, so if you do not like that, then skip over the **italic section** when you see it. Otherwise, enjoy.

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**Part I: Forgetting to Remember**

Kaiba Seto was beyond exhausted and yet he could not sleep. It was frustrating, but not nearly as much as everything else that had happened to him that day. His mind didn't even know where to begin trying to make sense of it all, but Kaiba still did his best to deal with everything.

Rolling onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, Kaiba was glad that he had decided against trying to fly the Blue Eyes White Dragon all the way to America. He was far too tired to properly concentrate and after hearing the bad weather reports, Kaiba had briefly returned to Domino for his private jet after his flashy departure from Alcatraz Island. As much as he enjoyed his Blue Eyes jet, it just couldn't compare to the comfortable amenities his private plane had, not to mention the fueling was a little more practical as well.

The other benefit was that it allowed him to be alone, because Kaiba was not in the mood to be around anyone else right now. There were many advantages to having separate rooms, and although his younger brother was the most important thing to Kaiba, sometimes he just wanted to seal himself away from the world and all of the shit that went with it. Thus he had been somewhat grateful when Mokuba had announced he wanted to go to sleep and Kaiba had taken the opportunity to enjoy the luxury of his king sized bed.

He had hoped that his body would be so tired that sleep would easily overtake him, but it was not meant to be. Kaiba had too much on his mind and now that he was finally surrounded by silence for the first time, there was nothing else to distract him from thinking about everything that had happened.

Then again, it wasn't so much what had happened as much as it was the person it involved: Yuugi. Although that wasn't quite right, was it? It was really the mou hitori no Yuugi, ridiculous as the notion was to Kaiba. The events of that morning on the Battle Ship's roof deck and the person he had lost to on Alcatraz, there was no way that had been weak little Mutou Yuugi. The mou hitori no Yuugi was the only other possibility, but Kaiba didn't like admitting to it. Then again, at least multiple personality disorders were recognized by medical science; it made more sense than some bullshit excuse of a pharaoh trapped inside of a necklace for three thousand years.

Hadn't he heard the Yuugi-tachi refer to him as Yami before? It was a fitting name, but Kaiba still hated admitting to the former pharaoh's existence. Doing so meant acknowledging his own connection with the ancient priest and that made Kaiba more than just a little uncomfortable. It was hard enough suppressing the vivid images that he was now stuck with as a result of that morning's hallucination and it didn't help that every time he closed his eyes, he caught of glimpse of one of the various memories the priest had passed on to him.

It for that reason that Kaiba hadn't gone to sleep when he returned to his room after leaving the top deck; he just couldn't handle the visions of intimacy. Instead he had thrown himself into modifying his deck to perfection during those early daylight hours. Losing had not been an option and yet that had been the outcome. Was this going to be more of the same? _Not if I have anything to do with it_, Kaiba resolved, steeling himself against the inevitable.

The loss had been upsetting, but not as much as everything else surrounding it. His anger had gotten the best of him and he had lashed out because of it, but Yami's only response had been resigned look of sadness that had pissed Kaiba off even more. Having to stand so close to Yami without being able to touch him had been disturbingly difficult because of the memories lingering just under the surface and the pesky feelings that had made themselves known when Jounouchi's importance had been reiterated were more than a little irritating. The priest's emotions had temporarily swayed his own and the intensity of his rage had been startling; he had always loathed the mutt, but his hatred had been slightly different in that one moment and had almost been borderline jealousy. But what was there to be jealous of from the likes of such a third rate duelist? He was jealous of no one—especially not someone as worthless as Jounouchi.

Kaiba had also felt indignant about being on the receiving end of a friendship speech from Yami. Something deep inside that sounded suspiciously like the priest whispered that it wasn't friendship that he wanted from the former pharaoh, but Kaiba didn't pay it any attention. Kaiba Seto had no use for such trivial emotions, after all.

Unfortunately for Kaiba, his convictions couldn't compete with reality. He had started their duel feeling cockier than normal in an attempt to prove his idiotic incarnation wrong, but that had only taken him so far. Kaiba had gotten caught up in the thrill and excitement of facing off against Yami and it had been hard to ignore the echo of the former priest's taunts. Why did nothing else make him feel as alive as dueling Yami? Kaiba didn't have an answer to that question and it troubled him.

Everything had been going as planned until the moment Obelisk and Osiris had fought against each other and destroyed themselves. He had once again been subjected to a hallucination that was almost more disturbing than the one he had shared with Yami earlier that morning, but for an entirely different reason. It had obviously taken place at an earlier date, but that wasn't what had bothered him.

The pharaoh had mentioned something about Seto being controlled by the King of Darkness and Kaiba was inclined to agree based on the annoying ability that had carried over that had allowed him to sense the priest's emotional state. Even though Seto had appeared to be calm and completely in control, Kaiba had known otherwise. There had been an overwhelming sense of rage and impotency at himself at allowing himself to be controlled by another, as well as a conflicted sense of shame. Seto had been ashamed of his own weakness and the fact that he was secretly enjoying the experience of fighting against the pharaoh; it meant that he was considered worthy enough to be dealt with directly. Still, the thought of hurting his pharaoh had distressed him and pained him more than anything else.

Kaiba wondered if it was the same for Yami—did he feel the pharaoh's emotions as easily? What would the pharaoh have felt as he stared at his lover, preparing to fight to the death for the throne? Would he have felt disappointment or despair?

Something still didn't add up about the incident, though. The priest had exceptional abilities when it came to mind control and he would rather have died than hurt his pharaoh, so how had the scene come to pass? What had caused Seto to fall victim?

Kaiba was suddenly struck by the thought that perhaps it was because of that decisive battle that Yami was sealed in the Millennium Puzzle and Seto had become the new ruler of Egypt. For some reason Kaiba found it hard to breath at the thought and he struggled to regain control. It had nothing to do with him, right? Then why did it hurt to even consider that harm had come to Yami in the past at the hands of the priest? For some reason, Kaiba was suddenly reminded of Seto asking him, "And why do you protect him?"

The question still plagued Kaiba and he still wasn't any closer to an answer. Wasn't that what he had tried to do for Yami before his battle with Marik? He had known that Yami didn't have a chance against Marik without the help of the Devil's Sanctuary card and Kaiba had only lent it on a whim. Would he have done that if he hadn't seen the irritating visions?

Kaiba had wanted Yami to reject it and suspect him of sabotage like the rest of the Yuugi-tachi had, but that hadn't happened. "I trust you, Kaiba," was all Yami had said as he added the card to his deck without a single question about it. Why had that single statement affected Kaiba so deeply? He hadn't originally intended to help Yami in any way, but he hadn't been able to stop himself from interfering.

Nothing was making sense anymore and Kaiba had the nagging doubt that part of the reason he had agreed to go to America was because it got him away from Yami. _As if the distance would make a difference_, he thought to himself with a sneer. Kaiba couldn't afford to have his mind clouded by such nonsense; it was bad enough that he was experiencing any emotions at all, let alone _that _kind. His every thought had been filled with Yami and that was unacceptable. So why had it hurt so much to walk away from Yami without saying a word? Although the thought made the sadistic part of him wonder if Yami had been affected by his departure.

Those types of thoughts were getting him nowhere, though. The only benefit was that it distracted him from all of the intimate things the bastard priest had forced on him. Kaiba had never considered anybody in that way before and he was struggling to keep it that way. It made him incredibly uncomfortable to think of another in a sexual manner, let alone add himself into a fantasy as an active participant. That was not to say that his body was unfamiliar with hormonal reactions, but it had always been disregarded as a nuisance. On the rare occasional that his body reacted to something, it was almost always a dream that he didn't remember in the morning and that suited him just fine. He already had enough reasons to hate sleeping and he didn't need one more. Kaiba wouldn't allow himself to consider the fact that those types of dreams might be related to the dead priest's memories; his mind just couldn't handle it.

He was already having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that Seto's presiding emotion was love and not lust, that the priest's devotion had little do with the pharaoh's position. Had he himself ever felt anything so completely, so deeply? Even the range of Kaiba's anger and hatred couldn't compare to Seto's, which was surprising. He hadn't thought it possible to feel anything that intensely and yet he had experienced such things through the overly emotional priest.

Kaiba found it exhausting and he wanted to forget about it, but that was proving impossible. Why did he have to remember things that had nothing to do with him? Why was he missing things that he had never had? Kaiba had never felt the touch of another, so why was he craving it? Why did he feel an ache, an insatiable need for a comfort he had never known? Kaiba Seto needed no one and yet he couldn't stop himself from wanting something he could never have, could never allow himself to have.

Worse yet was the fact that it wasn't so much that pharaoh that had captured his attention, so much as it was Yami. Through the visions he had been cursed with, Kaiba had noticed a few distinct differences between Yami and the pharaoh; he didn't even want to think about the fact that it meant there were three distinct personality involved. He was thoroughly disgusted with himself for even think about his rival in such a way and it didn't matter it if was for comparative purposes or not.

The problem was that for a few brief moments, Kaiba had felt the warmth of another while their bodies pressed against each other's in the grey dawn. Even now, Kaiba could remember and feel the way that Yami relaxed against him and the momentary peace it had brought him. He had felt the way Yami's body reacted to being in such close proximity to Kaiba's and it was mildly reassuring that he wasn't the only one being affected by it all.

At least he still had control of his willpower. It would have been so easy to give in to his momentary madness and act out on such unseemly desires, but he had resisted. No matter how much he reprimanded himself for being weak enough to fall pretty to such base feelings, it still didn't change anything.

No, it didn't change the fact that Kaiba had been tempted to take advantage of his position when he felt Yami shiver in reaction to his sigh. The slightest tilt of his head could have allowed Kaiba's lips to press against Yami's sensitive neck in a sinfully pleasurable way. He would have been encouraged to boldness by Yami's reaction, by the way his breath caught and how he would press his body closer to Kaiba's. Granted more access, Kaiba would have slowly kissed and licked his way up Yami's neck, relishing every gasp and noise his ministrations elicited.

Once he reached Yami's ear, he would languidly lick the curve of it before nipping and sucking on the earlobe. It would cause Yami to cry out Kaiba's name and he would reward him for not saying the one he shared with that bastard priest. He would slip one of his hands under Yami's shirt to trail along that warm skin, smirking at the way his rival would start to squirm. Kaiba would take his time with demolishing Yami's composure and he wouldn't allow himself to show his surprise when his rival turned to face him.

Kaiba's mind would be too busy assessing his success rate based on the lustful gaze in Yami's eyes to reject the heated advance and aggressive kiss. He would fight against his own rising desire in order to dominate completely and Kaiba would force Yami onto his back against the cold metal deck. It would cause Yami to arch closer to Kaiba in order to seek out his warmth and their bodies would react to the contact.

It wouldn't take long for Kaiba to become impatient for more and he would waste no time in reaching down to start undoing the button of Yami's pants in order to—

Kaiba's eyes flew open and he started cursing himself when he realized that his thoughts had started to mutate into a fantasy. He was harder than he could ever remember being and Kaiba was beyond mortified by his body's traitorous reaction. He was breathing heavily and he could feel the heat on his cheeks as the images started to fade away, replaced by the harsh reality.

"What the fuck was that?" Kaiba angrily demanded out loud to no one in particular. He sunk lower into the comfort of his bed and tried to will himself into a flaccid state, but that didn't seem to be happening any time soon. Kaiba refused to touch himself to relieve the pressure, so he suffered through it as punishment for allowing his thoughts to get that far out of control.

It never should have happened and yet he couldn't ignore the fact that he was almost painfully aroused. "Shit," he muttered as he rolled over and shifted awkwardly to try and get comfortable. He couldn't even blame the priest's memories entirely because he had pictured himself actively doing such embarrassing things to Yami. Kaiba had wanted to make Yami lose control, to completely dominate his desires, whereas the priest was more concerned about satisfying his pharaoh's desires. It accidentally triggered one of the priest's memories and Kaiba was powerless to stop it.

_Even though the sun was approaching its zenith, no light reached the inner sanctuary of the sacred temple. A few flickering candles were the only thing allowing Seto the pleasure of seeing his pharaoh's bare skin and he could already feel the anticipation building within him._

_Yami smiled at him in a knowing manner as he beckoned to Seto with an outstretched hand, "Come, my priest."_

_Kneeling before Yami and taking the small hand into his own, he reverently kissed it as he looked up into his pharaoh's crimson eyes with adoration. "And what would the pharaoh have his priest do?"_

_"What you do best," Yami replied with a perverse smirk that excited Seto even more. "Worship me."_

"_You and you alone," Seto whispered before capturing Yami's lips in a passionate kiss._

_Shifting closer to the edge of the temple's throne, Yami murmured, "Oh? But as a priest you worship many deities."_

"_Yes, but as a man, you are the only one," Seto told him before slowly working his way down Yami's torso with teasing flicks of the tongue._

_As Yami started to give in to the pleasure completely, he murmured, "This has to be my favorite ceremony…"_

_Seto took a moment to pause while he looked into his pharaoh's scarlet eyes, amused by the statement. "So long as no other is allowed to perform it," Seto warned, earning him a laugh that he enjoyed immensely._

_"My body may belong to this nation and my spirit to the gods, but my heart and soul belong only to you, Seto," Yami promised as he caressed the priest's cheek. "Throughout all of the ages and time, I will always be yours to love. To this I swear to you and you alone, Seto. There never has and never will be another."_

_The priest was nearly overcome by the love he felt at the very moment and he leaned into the gentle touch. "For all of eternity, you will be the only one I will love and be loved by," Seto replied, sealing their oath with a passionate kiss that left them both breathless and wanting._

"_Come," Yami said as he gracefully rose from the throne to make his way over to the altar. "We have only just gotten started."_

_Allowing himself to be led, Seto tried to steady his breathing. They had celebrated and honored Ra in the same manner the previous year and it was still a fond memory that never failed to make his cock stir to life. Even though he normally hated hearing the name of another on Yami's lips—regardless of their divine status—on this singular occasion, Seto didn't object. If raising their voices in pleasure to call out to the god who had brought them together was required, it would be worth it to continue basking in Ra's blessing._

"_Then for my beloved pharaoh's pleasure and to our honored and generous god, Ra," Seto said before taking Yami's member into his mouth in a smooth and practiced motion._

_Instantly surrounded by the wet heat, Yami cried out wordlessly as he rested against the altar. His fingers easily entangled in Seto's hair as he braced himself and the sound of their panting and quiet noises of enjoyment filled the small sanctuary._

_There was something intensely gratifying to the ego about hearing Egypt's most powerful ruler gasping his praises of Seto's abilities to a god. It didn't take long for Yami to reach his peak and his shout of ecstasy echoed loudly off of the walls. Seto gladly accepted his pharaoh's seed and drank it down without complaint._

_Yami's knees had started to go weak and Seto helped lay him down on the altar with a knowing smirk. "Did that please my pharaoh and our god?" _

"_Yes," Yami moaned in a hoarse voice, his body arching off of the cold stone to draw closer to Seto's heat. "But what would please us more—"_

_Seto didn't need to be told and he had wasted no time in coating his fingers with some nearby sacred oil. He had slipped two in at once, interrupting Yami's sentence quite effectively to ask, "Is this what my pharaoh wants?"_

"_I want all of you," Yami gasped as his body shuddered in response to Seto's actions. "I need all of you, Seto."_

"_Then that is what you shall have," Seto told him with a playful smirk as he removed his fingers in order to slam his cock deep inside of Yami._

_They both called out to Ra in their pleasure and Seto allowed Yami's body time to adjust to the intrusion. It was only when he felt Yami's legs wrap around him and the tentative shifting of the pharaoh's hips that Seto allowed himself to move._

_It didn't take long for them to hit a rhythm that soon had them worked up to a sweat as the day wore on outside of the temple. Neither paid it any mind as they concentrated on the feelings between them and Seto knew they wouldn't last long under such an unrelenting pace given how receptive Yami was to the shared pleasure. When Seto felt Yami's muscles starting to tighten around his member, he began stroking Yami's in rhythm to their pace to try and maximize the sensation for his pharaoh._

_Yami was so close and he wrapped his arms around Kaiba's neck tightly as he moaned his appreciation to his priest and his god. He tried to hold out as long as he could and he demanded, "Say my name, Seto," after the priest referred to him by his title again._

"_I cannot," Seto refused, knowing that it was not his right to say such a sacred name—the name bestowed to him by god himself upon his ascension to the royal title._

"_All is forgiven here," Yami reassured him, "so please, say my name!"_

_When he reached his orgasm, Seto dared to call out the true name of his most beloved—_

Kaiba felt as if he had been physically hit when he was jarred out of the intense memory and he almost cried out at the loss. His breathing had become labored and he swore in disgust when he realized that he had started stroking his own cock at some point. He was so close to release, but he wouldn't allow himself to do anything else; he had done enough as it was.

The sudden onset of the memory didn't disturb him so much as what it contained. He had been suffused with a warmth that was both painful and wonderful in different ways and he refused to believe that he was bound to Yami in any way because of a promise two lovesick idiots had made over three thousand years ago.

"It didn't happen!" Kaiba protested vehemently, as if he could speak it out of existence with those words alone.

"None of this is fucking happening," he whispered, desperately trying to ignore the way his body ached for someone who technically didn't exist. No, Kaiba Seto would not allow himself to be reduced to such a pathetic state.

_But is it really so pathetic?_ a part of him wondered. There was some weird power trip in knowing that he had been good enough to dominate the ruler of Egypt and to leave him begging for more. Knowing that one of the most commanding people in the entire ancient world had been writhing under him at his mercy was—

_That wasn't me!_ Kaiba mentally yelled in a futile attempt to try and drown out the obnoxious part of his mind that was conspiring against him with his body. Kaiba had no use for a dead pharaoh and that should have been the end of it.

Except it wasn't, was it? Random images of Yami kept appearing and generally making things worse. _I don't want either of them_, Kaiba told himself sternly, willing himself to believe it. Unfortunately for Kaiba, his hormones were inclined to disagree and his cock was defiantly remaining rigid because of his stray thoughts where Yami replaced the pharaoh.

"That's it," he growled, getting out of bed and determined to do something about his irritating problem. He quickly went into his personal bathroom and wasted no time in getting into the shower.

Turning on the faucet and setting it to the coldest temperature possible, he cried out as he was doused by the freezing water. The echo off of the walls instantly made him remember what he had heard in the memory and he cursed loudly as he clenched his hands into tight fists and slammed one of them against the tiles in the hopes that the pain would knock some sense into him. He had to get control; this was unacceptable and could not be allowed to continue.

Closing his eyes as he banged his head to rest against the tile wall, Kaiba accidentally wondered what name the priest had been about to moan. What difference did it make? And why did it make Kaiba remember Yami asking him what his real name was? It's not like he cared, after all.

Gritting his teeth as he continued to stand in the freezing cold spray of water, Kaiba tried to blank his mind of everything. He would force all of those useless thoughts behind his strong mental walls and never again would he have to deal with the embarrassment such things caused him. Kaiba would force himself to forget everything and if it took going to America to succeed, he would stay there as long as it took to rid himself of such ridiculous notions. It wasn't running away if it had a purpose and setting up a World Kaiba Land would keep him plenty busy. He would throw himself whole heatedly into the new project and by the time he returned to Japan, Yami and all of the past life bullshit would have been forgotten and everything would be as it once was.

But if that were really true, then why did the thought hurt so much? Why did it hurt at all?

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**A/N:** Poor, poor Kaiba. XD And the pharaoh totally topped from the bottom in that flashback, heh. I just like the idea of the pharaoh being a distinctively different person from Yami because the course of their lives really had taken two separate directions, which would alter their behaviors a bit.

Although I swear, this is turning into a test of how many of my personal pet theories on the series can I cram into one story…And so we're off on the story I never meant to write! But once the idea came to me, I just couldn't stop, so here it is. Hopefully the more pensive nature of this story will go over well. Such contrasting versions of Kaiba, ne?

Now, I do feel that I must ask for some input, so if you would kindly drop your opinion in your review, I'd be deeply appreciative. As the story currently stands before being completely edited, it's roughly about 25,000 words long, which is a _bit_ long for four chapters. The problem is that the third chapter is almost 9,500 words of that and it is possible to divide it into two separate chapters (7,500 and 2,000 words respectively, although I don't suppose that's much of a difference).

My question is would it be better to read it as the really long chapter or would it be easier to manage as a five part story? If it makes it any easier, the split is divided between the incident and the reactions to it. My original plan was for it to perfectly match up in the four part format for the _Endless Loop_ theme, but the problem is **if**—and that's a pretty big _if_ at this point—I go through with the third part of the series, it will definitely be more than four chapters long, which screws my original idea anyway. So since this is about you readers, let me know what you would prefer and I'll go with the majority?

**Part II: Not Now**

_With Kaiba gone, Yami finally gets the chance to reflect on everything, but all is not as it seems. Not anymore, not ever again._

It also takes place after the same episode and will be referencing lots of events throughout the series—everything from the earliest Punishment Games, Death-T, Duelist Kingdom, and beyond—but it should be explained well enough for those of you who aren't familiar with the earliest volumes of the manga. Oh, earlier psychotic Yami. He gets so little love; the insanity that America ignored for the most part. XD

So please look forward to it, although I know it's a lot heavier than _Another Lesson_. For those keeping track of both stories, the second chapter to _**Another Lesson**_ goes up in a few more days on **Sunday**, **May 25th**, and part two of _**Whenever **_goes up **Wednesday, May 28th.**

All of your reviews have been wonderful so far and I always look forward to hearing your thoughts and insights! Please feel free to add your opinion about whether or not to separate the third chapter for ease of reading when you leave your comments.


	2. Part II: Not Now

**Part II: Not Now**

When the Blue Eyes White Dragon jet disappeared from view, Yami felt something twist painfully inside of him. He knew that Kaiba had to keep moving forward on his road to the future, but it still felt like something was now missing inside of Yami. His aibou was safe, his friends had been saved, and he had won the Battle City tournament, so he should have been just as excited and jubilant as the rest of the group, right? And yet all Yami could do was stare out the window as he got further and further away from what he wanted.

"_Mou hitori no boku?"_ Yuugi asked softly, sensing the sudden darkening of Yami's mood without understanding the reason for it.

"_It's nothing," _Yami reassured him, although the lie sounded flat to his own ears. _"Why don't you go over and talk to Jounouchi-kun?"_

Yuugi was genuinely concerned about the shift in Yami's mood, but his own excitement was getting the best of him. He hadn't been in control of his body since Jounouchi had woken up and he was eager to go hug his friend to make sure that he was really okay. _"Are you sure? I don't mind waiting a little longer—"_

"_There's no need,"_ Yami interrupted gently as forced Yuugi to switch positions. _"Have fun."_

No one else had seemed to notice the change yet, so Yuugi asked one final time, _"Mou hitori no boku, are you sure everything is alright?"_

"_Yes," _Yami said, forcing a lightness into his voice that he did not feel. _"I just need to think about a few things."_

Yuugi had noticed that Yami was doing that more often, but he thought that was to be expected when someone learned about their past in such a way. _"If you want to talk…"_ Yuugi started to offer, knowing that Yami would probably only come to him when he was ready.

"_Thank you, aibou,"_ Yami said with affection in his voice. _"Now go over there before they start worrying about you."_

Once Yami realized that Yuugi's attention was no longer focused on him, he retreated further into his soul room. Sitting on a random stair, Yami looked around the labyrinth he was now going to reside in for the next several hours, if not days. For once he was fine with that because he didn't want to be around anyone else right now. So for the time being, Yami enjoyed a few minutes of silence since his mind was so full of things to think about that he didn't know where to start. There were so many different emotions swirling inside of him that he was almost numb because of it. _Just another contradiction_, he realized with a frown.

What struck Yami as strange was the fact that he now had lots of memories and evidence about his past, but he was still no closer to discovering who he was. All of the insights he had gained from Seto were his interpretations of the person that Yami used to be; it easily could have been romanticized and manipulated by the passing of time. It had been him without being him, which was somewhat frustrating.

Yami was starting to get a sinking feeling that he was searching for something that no longer existed. Right now his existence was entirely comprised of the, "mou hitori no Yuugi," that he had become and had very little to do with his newfound past. All of his true memories and experiences belonged to that part of him and he was grateful that he had even been allowed that much. He hadn't truly realized how important his new life was until he had come dangerously close to losing what little identity he had constructed for himself because of Seto.

The problem was that Yami didn't feel like a pharaoh, let alone _the_ nameless pharaoh that he used to be. He ruled over nothing, had no country of his own, or people to recognize and worship him, so how could he still call himself by a title that was no longer used in the modern world he had come to think of as his own? Hell, all he had was an empty pyramid of vacant rooms to preside over and that hardly counted for anything. _At least the random throne room makes sense now_, he mused to himself with a slight quirk of his lips.

Much to Yami's dismay, he hadn't recognized or identified with any of what Seto had remembered his pharaoh to be—well, maybe there had been a few things. Yami had noticed several similarities in their personalities and the way that they reacted to certain things, but there had been so many differences between them that it really was like he had been watching someone else with a striking resemblance to himself. His mind recognized that the things he had witnessed had once happened to him, but he just couldn't reconcile that existence with his own.

The pharaoh had been almost cruel at times and Yami was no longer of such capable of such extreme judgments. When he had first come to the realization that he was able to share his soul with Yuugi's, he had been a little sadistic with his Punishment Games for those who dared to hurt his aibou. Over time he had started to change because of the time he spent with Yuugi and their friends and he had definitely become softer, although Yami didn't necessarily think it was a bad thing. Perhaps the pharaoh would have been the same had he not lived in a wartime period, but Yami had no way of knowing for certain.

It was only when the pharaoh was around Seto that Yami could find a common ground with him and even then it was tentative at best. Sometimes Yami was appalled by the high-handed way the pharaoh treated his priest, but perhaps that had more to do with the fact that he couldn't imagine himself acting that way toward Kaiba.

One of the strangest parts of the whole experience was that he had observed himself without experiencing any of his own emotions. Everything he had felt had been from Seto's perspective and while it had been enlightening, they had not been his own reactions to the situation. Seto had relayed everything from annoyance to indignation and even resentment, but the most prevalent had been the love and adoration under it all and Yami had no way of knowing how much of that was reciprocated in the pharaoh. It made him wonder if Kaiba felt everything that passionately under his calm exterior, but Yami doubted that he'd ever get an answer.

Kaiba was almost more distracting to Yami than the priest. Yami knew that it was wrong to compare Kaiba to Seto, but he couldn't help it. They resembled each other enough to share certain traits, but they were different enough that it made Yami curious to discover more. At least now he had a better sense as to why he has always been so drawn to Kaiba, although he wasn't sure just how much the past had affected that.

All of the intimate fragments Seto had shown him during that first vision at the museum had been hard to accept initially, largely because of Kaiba. It had complicated things when Seto kissed him so heatedly because his mind couldn't stop imagining Kaiba, which hadn't helped any. It only proved that Yami had no interest in Seto, which was probably a good thing considering that he had been dead for over three thousand years. The parts of Seto he liked the most were all of the things that Yami associated with Kaiba and it had caused such conflicting emotions within him. Yami had never had those types of thoughts about Kaiba or anyone else for that matter, but after the vision on the roof deck it had been almost impossible to stop.

When Kaiba had sighed against his neck after they had returned from the past, Yami had been shocked by the desire it stirred deep inside of him. He had wanted more, had dared to hope for Kaiba's lips to accidentally brush against his neck, to feel those strong hands against his body—only it wasn't his body, was it?

It belonged to his aibou and Yami could never forget that fact. How could he? Anything that he experienced or felt was filtered through that connection and he had become quite spoiled of late with the frequency and duration that he was allowed to occupy his aibou's body. Yami had been in control for almost the entirety of the Battle City tournament and he had taken it for granted. Even though being around Kaiba so much had hurt because of the limited knowledge he had gained that night from the stone stele, Yami hadn't wanted to let go.

When had Yami started lingering in the hopes of one more conversation with Kaiba before returning to the Millennium Puzzle? When had he started wishing for Kaiba to acknowledge their relationship as friends instead of rivals?

Thinking back on it, Kaiba had always been a little different for Yami, but he had never really questioned why that was. Up until him, all of the others had suffered permanent repercussions from his Punishment Games and yet Kaiba had merely been subjected to nightmares during his sleeping hours that would disappear once he learned his lesson. Then at Death-T, he had shattered Kaiba's heart in the hope that he would rebuild it and become the person Yami knew he could be despite the fact that he was the only person to require a second Punishment Game.

There had been little evidence at that point to prove that Kaiba was anything other than a corrupt and sadistic bastard and yet Yami had faith that there was something more to him than that. Where had that confidence come from? He had never given his foes the benefit of the doubt before and he had subjected others to worse punishments for far lesser offenses. Kaiba had kidnapped Yuugi's grandfather, almost killed all of his aibou's friends, not to mention that he had actually forced his own younger brother to undergo the horrors of Death-T—so where had Yami's faith started? Was it really because his soul instinctively remembered and reacted to the one Kaiba shared with Seto?

After the incident at Death-T, Yami rarely had the need to take control and he had been content to be relegated to his role as protector. Everything had been fine for Yuugi and his friends after that experience, but something had changed for Yami without him ever realizing it. How else could he explain what happened at Duelist Kingdom?

He had been dueling Mokuba during the Duelist Kingdom preliminaries when he first found out that Kaiba had finally recovered and Yami had actually felt joy at that knowledge. It was part of the reason he had reacted so poorly to Pegasus' attempt at convincing him that Kaiba's dead spirit had lingered to finish their fight. How could he have died when he was just learning how to live again? He had refused to accept that Kaiba was dead, but his concentration had wavered when the doubt set in and the longer he had stared into those soulless blue eyes, the more shaken Yami had become. When he realized that the deck actually was the one Kaiba used, Yami had nearly lost it and his emotions had gotten out of control when he started to think that maybe he was truly gone after all. Was that really the reaction someone was supposed to have toward a former enemy and rival?

Even after he found out that Kaiba was still alive, Yami's anger had not abated. Instead he had unleashed his rage and channeled it through the powers granted to him by the Millennium Puzzle to warn Pegasus of the wrath he had just incurred. At that moment it had nothing to do with Yuugi's grandfather being held captive by Pegasus, but was entirely a result of his anger that Kaiba's pride had been insulted.

What had never made sense to Yami was why Pegasus had chosen Kaiba to get back at him. Had the Millennium Eye shown him something? Nothing had suggested that Kaiba would have been an effective weapon against Yami or Yuugi; Pegasus would have gotten better results by trying to use their grandfather in the duel. Yuugi wouldn't want any harm to come to his Jii-chan and Yami would have abided by his wishes, guaranteeing Pegasus their cooperation and a victory. So why had he chosen Kaiba? Was it really possible that the Millennium Eye had shown him the interactions between the priest and the pharaoh?

Yami's emotions hadn't calmed down completely by the time they finally met up with Kaiba that night and he had remained inside of the Millennium Puzzle while Yuugi returned his deck. He hadn't trusted himself or his emotions, because the relief he felt at seeing Kaiba would have betrayed him and raised suspicion. Thus Yami had remained as an invisible observer, trying to see just how much the last Punishment Game had changed Kaiba. There had been a strange sense of pride at seeing how Kaiba had triumphed, but he wisely had kept that to himself. Although he hadn't quite been able to resist appearing to challenge Kaiba just as was leaving; there had been no reason for Yami to make himself known and yet he had done such a thing. Why?

The more Yami thought about it, the more he started to suspect that the Millennium Eye really had revealed something about the pharaoh and the priest to Pegasus. Why else would he have used the real Kaiba as a challenge after the failure of the first attempt? And yet despite the severity of the surrounding circumstances, Yami had gotten caught up in the duel and enjoyed the challenge that only Kaiba could provide him.

He had been surprised by Kaiba's tactic toward the end of the fight, but Yami instinctively knew that he wouldn't act so recklessly without a reason. Kaiba wasn't one to treat his life in such a trivial manner and Yami had trusted that he had a plan of some sort. It had seemed too calculated and Yami assumed that it was an attempt at fooling Pegasus into thinking Kaiba truly was dead this time; there was something gratifying about using the man's own trick against him. Then Kaiba could have continued trying to save his brother without being hindered while the rest of the Yuugi-tachi provided a distraction to Pegasus as the tournament continued.

There had been no fear or defeat in Kaiba's defiant eyes, so Yami continued until his aibou had interrupted because of Anzu's protests. Yuugi hadn't wanted to see Kaiba hurt and Yami had been so stunned by his aibou's kindness that he had been caught off guard by their soul's exchanging places. It had secretly upset Yami because forfeiting the match insulted Kaiba's pride as a duelist in his opinion. Their duel had ended with a hollow victory for Kaiba and that wasn't what Yami had wanted for him—especially not since he had finally learned what it meant to fight for a cause. His trust in Kaiba had been absolute, but Yuugi hadn't felt the same and it was hard not to feel slighted by the lack of faith in his judgment.

When they watched Kaiba duel against Pegasus, Yami hadn't allowed himself to come out of the Millennium Puzzle because his emotions had been so dangerously close to getting out of control again. It was obvious that Pegasus was using the Millennium Eye unfairly, but Yami couldn't interfere without dishonoring Kaiba's intentions. It had already happened once because of Yuugi and Yami didn't want it to happen again. Still, it had been hard to watch.

It was only after Pegasus had defeated Kaiba that Yami had finally lost his restraint and switched places with Yuugi. His powers were once again threatening to lash out over what had been done to Kaiba and he had felt the golden eye on his forehead betraying that fact to Pegasus.

Yami should have been ashamed of the fact that he had fought mostly for the purpose of saving Kaiba. Yuugi's grandfather should have been Yami's number one priority, but he had been obsessed with the thought of Kaiba being trapped inside of the card and how to free him. Kaiba had been his driving motivation and it wasn't until after the battles were over that Yami realized just how wrong that was.

It wasn't until that day that Yami realized just how conflicted Kaiba made him feel. At the end of the tournament, Yami had stayed just long enough to make sure that Kaiba really was safe before he switched places with Yuugi. Thus his aibou had been the one to see Kaiba off at the end of the Duelist Kingdom tournament because Yami knew that any show of emotion or friendship would have been rejected outright. He had contented himself with watching the rest of the goodbye through Yuugi's eyes, feeling a swell of pride when he realized that Kaiba had finally found his final piece.

Sometime after that tournament that was when Yami had started switching more frequently with Yuugi. Usually it was only to save Yuugi from harm, but any time that Kaiba was a factor, Yami always seemed to linger. It had never made sense, but it was starting to now.

He wondered if it was a coincidence that Kaiba had started appearing more often around the same time. Kaiba always seemed so cold and removed whenever he appeared on television or at school, but he always seemed so alive when he dueled with Yami. The same was true in the reverse as well, because no one else had the same effect on Yami. He had never felt as exhilarated as when he and Kaiba had dueled together on the roof against the Masked Ghouls tag team. It wasn't even so much because it reminded him of one of Seto's stray memories of battling alongside his priest, but more the fact that it was Kaiba who had decided to stand with him and fight. It had been for a common goal of saving their most important things, but even that had lost out to the thrill of the battle. He knew that it had been the same for Kaiba, which helped lessen the guilt over becoming that distracted.

Once again Yami wondered at Kaiba's strange behavior during the Battle City preliminaries. He had sought out Yami during his fight with Marik at the riverside and then again in the alley. Not only had he helped defeat the two Ghouls, but Kaiba had stayed with him and even offered his assistance in finding _Jounouchi_ of all people. It was no secret that Kaiba hated Jounouchi, so why had he helped? What had made him go so far as to give Yami a lift in his private helicopter to go rescue someone he hated? And what had possessed Kaiba to help save Yuugi at Domino Bay?

Yami knew that he was missing an important clue that would answer all of his questions. Had Kaiba seen something when he went to the museum and stood before the engraved tablet? Even if he had, Kaiba wouldn't admit to it, let alone believe it as fact. But if that were true, then why had he said, "Tell the mou hiroti no Yuugi that I saw his answer," before he left the Domino Bay? That single phrase meant that Kaiba acknowledged Yami as a separate entity, but it just seemed so out of character for someone who hated the, "bullshit occult nonsense," as much as him. What had changed?

Although perhaps the more important question was what _will _change? Kaiba still called him, "Yuugi," and hadn't acted any different toward him afterward, with the exception of the incident on the Battle Ship top deck. And now that Kaiba was gone…well, Yami just didn't know.

He suddenly feared what the knowledge would cause Kaiba to do. Would he shut everyone out even more? The fact that he might never see Kaiba again made it hard to breathe and he tried to stop such an idiotic thought. Kaiba wasn't the type to run away and eventually he would want to confront Yami about it. Yami probably wouldn't like the results, but it wasn't like he had much of a choice about it. _At least I'm good at waiting_, he thought with a slight smirk.

Maybe it was for the best, though. Yami needed time to get a grip on his emotions and all of the new memories that he had gained. It would be harder to do with Kaiba near because it made Yami want to act out on what he had seen. The whole thing was still too new and Yami needed time to adjust. Nothing had proved that more than when he had returned to his aibou's room after leaving Kaiba's embrace after that morning's incident.

Yami had immediately gotten into the shower to wash off the sweat and any other possible remnants that the vision had caused. His mind had been overactive and even though he was curious about his past, all he could think of was his present and Kaiba's place in it. He had intended to quickly wash himself and let Yuugi rest properly, but it hadn't quite worked out that way.

Instead he had accidentally imagined Kaiba striding into the bathroom and leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. When Yami had asked what he was doing there, Kaiba had started stripping as he approached the shower, joining Yami under the warm spray of water. "Did you really think that you could walk away from this Kaiba Seto?" he had murmured into Yami's ear as he pressed their bodies together with pleasing results.

Yami's—no, Yuugi's body had reacted to Yami's thoughts and he had stared down at his arousal in disbelief. It had never once happened while he was in control of the body and Yami wasn't sure what he should do about the problem. The decision was quickly made for him when the fantasy turned graphic. By the time he was unknowingly stroking himself as the impossible scenario played out in his mind, Yami was too lost in the pleasure to care.

He had pictured Kaiba taking him hard and fast against the wall and it had come as quite a shock to Yami when he climaxed in reality with a rather vocal moan. His legs had given out on him and he sank to the floor as he stared at the cum that had remained on his fingers. He knew that Yuugi did such things frequently—sometimes even more than once a night—but Yami had never touched his aibou's body in such a way. Yami had felt ashamed of the way he had taken advantage of Yuugi's trust and he couldn't wash off the evidence fast enough. His only saving grace was that Yuugi had no idea that it had happened, but that still didn't make it right. How could he have done such a thing?

His shame was made even worse when he finally returned to his soul room after cleaning up and getting his aibou's body back in bed. Yami had tried to think of Seto in the same way to see what fantasizing about the priest caused him to feel and it had been disheartening. It lacked the passion and need that Kaiba caused him to feel and it had accidentally triggered a sexual dream about Anzu for Yuugi that resulted with him masturbating before he even got out of bed later that day.

Yes, maybe it was a good thing that Kaiba was going to America for a little while. Yami couldn't afford to become aroused every time he was around Kaiba, so maybe the time apart would allow him to get control. Then again, maybe it would make it worse if the longing kept building up inside of him. Was Kaiba having the same problem? Probably not, Yami decided. Kaiba had probably already finished convincing himself that none of this had ever happened and had already moved on and forgotten about everything.

Even though Yami knew it was for the best, that still didn't stop it from being painful. Nothing had changed, so why was it so daunting to be apart?

Lying on his back with a sigh, Yami stared up at the inverted staircases with apathy. He wished that he could remember how to sleep, because it had to be better than torturing himself with thoughts about the warmth that he would never know again. Instead, Yami was stuck with reflecting on everything and he sighed in resignation as the hours began to drag by slowly. There was now no reason for him to leave the Millennium Puzzle and he would remain there as long as it took to make up for his transgression against Yuugi's body. It never should have happened and Yami resolved himself to quickly sorting through his problems so that he could return to the way things used to be and resume his role as Yuugi's protector.

By why did that thought hurt so much? Why did it hurt at all?

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**A/N:** For those of you who are curious about what episodes/chapters I'm referencing:

Misc: Kaiba's first Punishment Game (volume 2, chapter 10), and throne room in the Millennium Puzzle (volume 2, chapter 14).

Death-T: Volumes 4 and 5. Part involving Kaiba's Punishment game are in volume 5, chapters 39 and 40.

Duelist Kingdom: Dueling Kaiba's ghost and Yami's shadowy hair of rage (episode 10), Kaiba's return (episode 16/volume 10, chapters 85 and 87), Kaiba and Yami's duel at Pegasus' castle (episode 24/volume 12, chapter 105), and Yami's threat to Pegasus after Kaiba's defeat (episode 27/volume 13, chapters 110 and 111).

Early Yami was beyond badass, I think. For those of you who haven't read the manga or seen YGO Season Zero, I can't implore you enough to do so. Some of the early Punishment Games involve: lighting a guy on fire with alcohol to save Anzu (volume 1, chapter 4), lighting a guy on fire via an explosion over a cultural festival booth (volume 1, chapter 6), causing a guy to get stabbed by a poisonous scorpion to revenge Jounouchi (volume 2, chapter 8), electrocuting a warehouse full of teens to save Jounouchi (volume 2, chapter 12), and lighting some kids on fire on a roof via spray paint to save a friend (volume 3, chapter 23).

Uh, so _yeah_. Those aren't even all of them, to say the least. Just some of the more gruesome examples. Suddenly Kaiba having nightmares about Duel Monsters seems pretty tame, ne? I just love that Yuugi and Jounouchi spend the night at the Kaiba mansion in volume 4 and the fluffy king cloak that Kaiba and Mokuba wear. Early Kaiba was funny. XD

I think I might have mentioned this somewhere else (or at least to a couple of my wonderful reviewers who don't mind me rambling to them at length) about my interpretation of the Millennium Items and the past. The versions of the priest and pharaoh are different in all of the different visions and I always tried to figure out why. Eventually I came up with the idea that each of the Millennium Items possessed memories that were influenced by their owner's interpretations. Thus the vision of cruel Seto was a result of the Millennium Tauk at the museum, the fighting Seto and pharaoh were from the Millennium Rod during the Battle City finale between Kaiba and Yami, and the Memory World arc's version was a result of what was remembered by the Millennium Puzzle. Priestess Isis' observations would be vastly different from Seto's experiences, thus why her version seems more harsh than Seto's whose Millennium Rod would be laced with his understanding. As for the pharaoh's memories, it's so questionable because of the meta-gaming going on between Bakura and Yami that altered everything as it was being lived. But that would account for the different interpretations and would lend another reason why the seven items needed to come together to finally free Yami at the end of the series.

New paragraph! Can you tell that it's starting to get hot and I'm not getting enough sleep? If nothing else, it and a visit from my dear friend accidentally resulted in a Prideshipping fic that is a crossover with _Ouran High School Host Club_, but I'm not sure if that will ever see the light of day. I wrote 9,000 words of it while at work, but that was the middle of the fic and nuttiness abounded. I think it was a reaction to all of the heavier stuff that I've been posting of late. I don't know how many of you are familiar/like _Ouran_, but there is some potential for a lot of amusing stuff there. And would you believe me if I said it was inspired by the Doma Arc? Who knew!

As for a few general wrap up points on this one, Yami and Yuugi are still sharing a body and will not be separating in this fic until the very end with the ceremonial duel. I'm personally of the camp that their appearances don't change, only their mannerisms. Otherwise when you think about it logistically (as I tend to), simple things like the uniform wouldn't fit properly because of their height difference rule it out for me. Their mannerisms, speech patterns, and attitude would definitely be different, though.

And I don't know who added this story (and _Catnip Dream_ and _Another Lesson_) to the Psychological Dependence community, but thank you! I was really surprised by that and honored, so I just wanted to let whomever know that I appreciate it!

**Part III: Endless Repeat**

_Kaiba has finally returned to Japan after being in America for several months, but the dreams seemed to have followed him home. Living through another's eyes, an eternal echo resounds through them all as another promise is made._

After _Catnip_ I never wanted to utilize the dream theme again, but when this idea hit me, I just had to go with it. The borderline between dreams and visions was just too tempting, so hopefully you can forgive this poor authoress and not think she has fallen into complacency with clichés. And since that part is almost 7,500 words, I will not be putting it into italics, because that's just painful to read at so long a length. The overall word count will probably be closer to almost 9,500 so for those of you who are thinking that the _Another Lesson _chapters are a bit on the shorter side, this should give you something a little more substantial to get you through things.

I will post the third part of this on **Wednesday, June 4th**. The next part of _Another Lesson_ will go up on **Sunday, June 1st**, so lots of stuff in the future!

There haven't been a lot of reviews on this one, but I'm loving how detailed they are. It's been fun getting to see some of your in-depth thoughts on this and the series in general, so thank you so much for taking the time to not only read my stuff, but to leave such amazing feedback as well. I'm becoming spoiled by such wonderful things! XD

Thank you and until next time!


	3. Part III: Endless Repeat

**A/N:** This contains **lemon** **content**, and features both **Seto x Atem** as well as **Kaiba x Yami**. A little something for everyone—provided that you enjoy those pairings, of course.

* * *

**Part III: Endless Repeat**

"You've come back to me," the pharaoh greeted his priest warmly, causing Kaiba to cringe. He wasn't sure if observing or participating was worse, but he was not in the mood for another voyeuristic dream between those two idiots.

"It has been but a few months," Seto said casually, although his eyes betrayed his need.

Yami shoved the priest against the nearest pillar and started ravishing him with all of the passion that had build up during the time that they had been apart. Kaiba tried to look anywhere else, but their gasps and whispered words were starting to get to him. Shifting uncomfortably, Kaiba just wanted it to end, but the sound of their clothes coming off told him it was only just getting started.

_Why me?_ he wondered, jumping when he heard the pharaoh cry out to his priest. Ignoring the fact that they had started making their way to the pharaoh's bed, Kaiba bitterly questioned why this nonsense had been plaguing him for so long. Even though he had been in America for months, the dreams had never stopped and it seemed that nothing had changed now that he had finally returned to Japan.

Usually he was relegated to being the priest whenever he dreamed and those were always the hardest ones to deal with afterwards. At least when he was observing them, he could pretend that it had nothing to do with him. Any time Yami put in an appearance as the mou hitori no Yuugi, that was the only time things got even more complicated and Kaiba didn't want to think about it.

As the priest and the pharaoh continued their uninhibited lovemaking, Kaiba got fed up and decided to leave. It usually didn't work, but anything was better than suffering through another show that left him on the brink of release when he awoke. Heading toward the closest door, Kaiba opened it and was shocked that instead of the palace's corridor, it was the school hallway. Now _that_ was different.

Glancing over his shoulder revealed that Yami and Seto were still reaffirming their love in a rather creative position, but the other side of the door was definitely connected to Domino High School's hallway. Shrugging and deciding that there was no harm in it, Kaiba stepped into it and let the door shut behind him.

Kaiba was instantly surrounded by silence as he walked down the deserted corridor, coming to a stop in front of his homeroom. The door slid open to reveal a garden at night, despite the fact that it was impossible since the classroom was on the second story and the rest of the hallway was bright with morning daylight. "What the hell?" Kaiba muttered, completely thrown by the deviation.

Stepping into the garden and shutting the door behind him, Kaiba shivered as the cool night breeze blew over him. Taking a few tentative steps as he observed his surroundings, Kaiba glared at the sight of Seto standing alone in the moonlight. Not interested in what happened next, Kaiba turned back to the door only to discover that it had disappeared and been replaced with an ancient stone wall. "You have got to be fucking kidding me," he growled, not the least be amused.

"You will not leave until we have finished speaking," Seto informed him as he walked over to his reincarnation.

Spinning around angrily, Kaiba was about to say something when he realized just how close Seto was at the moment. "I will leave when I damn well please," Kaiba hissed as he glared hatefully at Seto.

"You will leave when I say," Seto calmly stated, "or would you rather have a repeat of last time?"

Kaiba assumed that the priest was referring to the argument in a different dream that led to Seto stabbing him with a sword to prove a point. He was still a little ticked about that dream in particular; Kaiba didn't need to be run through with a sword to know that there were different types of pain. It didn't make sense why the priest was referencing something that he shouldn't have known about, but that was just par for the course, wasn't it? "Just say it so I can go," Kaiba muttered, absentmindedly rubbing the place on his shoulder where the priest had successfully stabbed him previously.

Seto looked up longing at the balcony above them, his voice full of remorse when he said, "A week later, he was gone."

As if on cue, Kaiba could hear Yami and Seto finishing up from where he had left them earlier. The spatial distortion was starting to mess with his head and he was in no mood for games. "What?"

"Within a week, he was sealed inside of the Millennium Pyramid," Seto elaborated, his expression hardening into a look Kaiba recognized as his own impenetrable mask of indifference.

"That's your problem," Kaiba snapped, "not mine."

Giving Kaiba a disgusted look, Seto demanded, "What will you do when you lose him?"

"I'm not going to, 'lose him,' as you put it. I've never had him, nor have I ever wanted him," Kaiba retorted, although the last part might have been a lie. "He's not going anywhere."

"He will return to me," Seto predicted, smirking at Kaiba's reaction.

"Impossible!" Kaiba denied vehemently with complete and utter conviction, shocked at his own response. Since when had he cared that much? _Always_, that voice inside of him answered, causing Kaiba to scowl.

"Is it?"

Kaiba looked almost predatory as he tried to win the argument. "He said himself that he didn't belong here anymore," Kaiba reminded him with a sadistic laugh.

Seto's eyes narrowed, but that was the only indication of his irritation. "That was then."

"And what would have changed his mind?"

"You," Seto answered simply, although Kaiba felt as if he had been physically assaulted by that single world.

Refusing to show any weakness, Kaiba appeared particularly haughty as he demanded, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Even though it was only a question, Seto made it sound like an accusation, "When was the last time you saw him?"

The smartass answer would have been, "Last night," because of a particularly vivid dream he had experienced, but Kaiba wouldn't give Seto the satisfaction of that answer. "What difference does that make to you? You're not real."

"It matters to him," Seto remarked cryptically, ignoring the insult for once.

"If you have a point, make it," Kaiba ordered, trying not to flinch when the pair upstairs started their tryst anew.

Looking at Kaiba with a mix of pity and disgust, Seto sadly said, "I was right. You do not deserve him."

"This again?" Kaiba asked, sounding as bored as he felt. It wasn't the first time he had argued about Seto's claim and it only made Kaiba become more stubborn in his attempts to assert his own possessiveness for some reason.

Seto slowly closed the remaining distance between them, stopping when he came within inches of his reincarnation. "He waited over three thousand years to keep his promise. Why did you break yours?"

"_I_ never promised him anything," Kaiba growled, ignoring the flare up of pain in his heart that his own words caused. "Stop wasting my time!"

"I wish that I had the luxury to say the same to you," Seto commented with a heavy sigh and Kaiba frowned at the double meaning. "Perhaps I shall just show you instead."

Before Kaiba even had time to protest, Seto started kissing him aggressively and he wouldn't allow his reincarnation to pull away. Kaiba kept struggling against the weird sensation even as he heard the command, _"Remember,"_ echoing somewhere in his mind. The instant he tried to breathe, Kaiba felt the world fall away from him and he was suddenly thrust into Seto's body, coming face to face with the pharaoh from behind the priest's eyes.

"_You fucking bastard!"_ Kaiba mentally yelled at the priest, railing against the imprisonment. Kaiba became even more livid when he felt Seto's laughter reverberating through his soul and it distracted him temporarily from wondering how they had gone from the garden back to the pharaoh's bedroom. _"Let me out of here!"_ He did not want to be trapped in the priest's body when he knew what was coming next.

Ignoring the protests, Seto finished interlinking his existence with Kaiba's. Every emotion flowed between them unchecked and Seto tightened his control, forcing Kaiba to conform to his will in order to ensure that he experienced everything himself. _"Watch,"_ he ordered once he was completely sure that Kaiba's spirit had been subdued.

Kaiba didn't have any other choice and he hated his inability to rebel against the situation. He was being flooded with Seto's emotions and the overwhelming sense of despair and pain were unlike anything that Kaiba had ever known. Unaccustomed to such raw feelings, it was starting to wear down his ability to resist.

A hand brushed against Seto's cheek and Kaiba mentally cursed as the sensation ghosted over his soul. "Please don't look at me like that," Yami requested with a sad smile. "Just for tonight, I…"

"I can't help it," Seto whispered as he leaned into the touch.

"_That's because you're a pathetic and weak excuse for a—"_ Kaiba started to insult the priest, only to be interrupted by a rough jerk on his soul that reminded him of his place. It wasn't particularly painful, but the strange sensation shut Kaiba up for the time being.

The memory was completely unaffected by the internal struggle between the two fighting spirits and Seto continued apologizing with a quiet, "I'm sorry," as he placed his hand over Yami's, easily engulfing the smaller one.

Seto's thought process filtered through Kaiba's mind and he heard the priest wondering how someone so strong could feel so small and fragile. The warmth of the touch was reassuring, yet troubling as well. Bringing Yami's hand to his lips for a chaste kiss, Seto's voice had an edge of desperation as he said, "There has to be another way."

"We've been over this, Seto…"

"No!" Seto vehemently denied, his grip on Yami's hand tightening. "There must be something that we've missed, something that we can do—"

Yami interrupted him with a firm, "Seto, that's enough," and embraced the priest when he attempted to protest. "It has been foretold that—"

"Foretold?" Seto repeated with disdain. "What that foolish woman says means nothing!"

Pulling back a little, Yami calmly started, "Isis has been chosen by the Millennium Tauk and—"

"And it makes no difference!" Seto finished the sentence angrily. "She is merely a woman and her words hold no sway over the fate of a god!" Kaiba felt Seto's rage washing over him and for once he was inclined to agree with the priest's opinion; Isis was a pain in the ass in both of her lives. "What say does she have in your destiny?"

"Seto, if the Millennium Tauk shows that as my path, then I have no choice but to follow it."

The priest was too worked up to listen to reason, though. "There are always alternative futures and if I have to make a road to a new future, then I will do so!"

"I don't doubt that," Yami said with a faint smile, "because we must always move forward."

"There is no point if you are not here to walk it with me," Seto finally told him in a defeated tone, his anger fading away.

Brushing the hair away from the priest's eyes, the pharaoh continued trying to stay strong in the face of an unpleasant fate. "Seto, there is no other that I trust as much as you. This country and its people will need you when I'm—"

"Don't say it!" Seto yelled, an almost panicked look in his blue eyes. He didn't want to hear the words, "gone," or, "dead," spoken; it would make everything too real, too final.

Kaiba was grateful that the idiot priest had enough sense to be ashamed of his weakness and the way that he was clinging to Yami. All of this pathetic display of emotion was further proving to Kaiba why he had always avoided getting close to people. Why would anyone want to deal with the repercussions?

"Seto," Yami started to say, stopping when he heard how his own voice was wavering.

"I still need you," Seto whispered as he hugged Yami tightly, almost as if he were afraid that he would disappear at that very moment. "I can't do this without you."

Not having any of it, Yam insisted, "You can and you must."

"No, I—"

When Seto started to protest again, Yami held a finger up to his lips for silence. "We cannot change our future, Seto. We can only hope that the gods reward our sacrifice by granting us another chance in our next life. So for tonight, show me enough love to last an eternity."

Until then, Kaiba had never understood the term, "heartbreak," but he gained a new comprehension from the priest. It almost felt as if his heart would shatter from the pain and grief that were threatening to overwhelm the priest and Kaiba couldn't take it anymore. He had no desire to see anything else and he certainly didn't want to experience the pair's final night from such an awkward vantage point. It unnerved him to hear the priest wondering how someone so warm and full of life was going to be dead within the day, but Kaiba tried to ignore it. He was being pulled in so many different directions because not only did he have to deal with the priest's raw emotions from the memory, but he was also being forced to suffer through Seto's feelings of relieving the moment. _"I've seen enough!" _Kaiba shouted at him, no longer able to hold his silence.

Seto was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay any attention to Kaiba's discomfort. The priest was quickly losing himself in the beauty of his pharaoh as he committed every part of Yami's body to memory and Seto didn't want to miss a single second of it.

Kaiba was in desperate need of a distraction, but he could only substitute the modern version of Yami and that wasn't doing him any good. His sense of self was starting to blur as things began to escalate and Seto's feelings about losing his pharaoh were starting to pervade into an unspoken fear about Yami in Kaiba. He refused to acknowledge the feelings as his own; Kaiba was not the weak, and yet he almost couldn't breathe under the crushing pressure such thoughts caused. No, Kaiba wouldn't let the priest's emotions win, especially since Yami wasn't in danger of going anywhere any time soon.

The pair continued their desperate attempts at claiming each other for a final time and even Kaiba couldn't stop himself from experiencing the depths of their connection. It stopped him from insulting the priest because he understood that nothing he could say would hurt him like saying goodbye to his lover had. _"I get it, so will you let me out now?"_ Kaiba asked, his voice sounding strange to him. He never ran away from anything, but Kaiba couldn't get away fast enough for his tastes.

"No," Seto denied him as he penetrated Yami, sending a shot of pleasure that cut through the pain for a single moment.

It was more intense than anything Kaiba had ever dreamed about before and it was getting harder to distinguish what was real or not as he experienced the actions as if they were his own. He was startled by Yami touching Seto's cheek in order to get his attention and the rhythm slowed for a moment in response to the gentle action.

Kaiba saw a glimpse of the Yami he knew in the look of fierce determination in the pharaoh's gaze and it stirred a different kind of longing in him that had nothing to do with Seto's. "No matter how long it takes, I will find my way back to you," Yami swore, sealing his promise with a passionate kiss that caught Kaiba off-guard.

When they finally parted, Kaiba was stunned to find himself standing fully clothed on the deck of the Battle Ship instead of naked in the pharaoh's palace. "What the fuck is going on?" Kaiba groaned, his mind barely processing the new environment. He was too busy trying to recover from what Seto had just subjected him to and it was hard to calm himself. Never before had Kaiba experienced so many emotions at once—let alone that deeply—and he lacked the ability to cope with it. The pain was still too raw, still too close to his aching heart for Kaiba to deal with, although the sight of Yami standing there in his school uniform was actually reassuring for once.

Yami felt bad about borrowing one of Seto's mind tricks to use on Kaiba, but he would have regretted not using it more. He had heard the call of Seto's power from Kaiba's spirit and Yami had finally found a way to slip into his own body in the dream and steal control away to bring them to where they were. Yami just couldn't resist seeing the modern incarnation for what would probably be the final time. "I'm sorry," Yami said softly as he rested his forehead against Kaiba's chest, "I just had to see you one more time."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kaiba demanded harshly, even as his arms wrapped around Yami's small figure. If he had sensed the presence of the priest, Kaiba would have rubbed it in his face that Yami was safe in his arms and alive—well, as alive as a spirit in a dream could be. He resisted the urge to burry his face in Yami's hair and he refused to acknowledge the fact that he was shaking badly enough that it was easily felt by the smaller duelist. It shouldn't have affected him that much—hell, it shouldn't have affected him at all—but Kaiba couldn't stop the emotions rampaging inside of his soul.

Sounding as resigned as he felt, Yami cryptically answered, "It all ends tomorrow," as he hugged himself closer to Kaiba. "I just wanted to see you through my own eyes."

"Through your own eyes?" Kaiba repeated, confused by the statement.

Yami looked up at him with a small smile as he reached up to trace the outline of Kaiba's cheek. "I didn't want to see you through the pharaoh's eyes or in a memory—I wanted to see you when I was myself."

"Why?"

Even though Yami had only physically spent a day in the Memory World, he had lived through several months as the pharaoh. It should have been the end of it; he had found his true identity and known what it was to be loved by Seto, but he had never stopped thinking about the present or Kaiba. It had torn him apart with guilt every time he had been with Seto because Yami was unable to love him as purely as the pharaoh had; he had never been able to stop himself from longing for Kaiba. Yami had always felt like he was playing a role instead of living his own life and it had been somewhat of a relief to return back to his aibou and the life that they shared. And yet he no longer felt like he belonged there either; he didn't really belong anywhere and it was a disheartening discovery.

The time he had spent in the Memory World had been a blessing, but ultimately it had been just that—an artificially created place from what the Millennium Puzzle remembered. He had constantly been aware that it wasn't an actual reality and it had lacked so much without the presence of his aibou, their friends, and Kaiba. Disappointed didn't even begin to cover it when Yami discovered that Kaiba hadn't been amongst of the Yuugi-tachi when he had run into them in ancient Egypt, but then again why would he have been? He hadn't been at the museum that day, so why would Kaiba have been a part of the experience? That still didn't stop him from wishing that Kaiba had found a way to join him, though.

Coming back to himself, Yami decided it was a waste to continue lamenting Kaiba's absence when he was stranding right in front of him. "Because I wanted it to be you," Yami finally answered, letting his hand rejoin his other around Kaiba's waist.

"What does that even mean?" Kaiba asked, sounding more exhausted than exasperated.

Even if Yami had to wait another three thousand years, he wanted to remember Kaiba as he was, rather than the Seto he had come to know. Deciding to risk it all, Yami gave Kaiba a hesitant kiss, not daring to try anything more than a short and bittersweet pressing of their lips together. He wasn't rejected outright, but Kaiba wasn't exactly responsive, either. "It means that I…that I want you, Kaiba," Yami clarified when he pulled back a little without leaving the embrace. "Not the priest, only you. Even if it's just this once, I want to know all of you."

The sincerity in Yami's eyes stirred something within Kaiba and it was far too tempting to just give in to the desires he had been avoiding for so long. "All of me?" Kaiba repeated with a snort. "You might not like what you find."

"I'm willing to take that chance," Yami replied with a quiet laugh as he engaged Kaiba in a more ambitious kiss.

Kaiba resisted it for a moment before caving completely. He responded to Yami's eagerness and it wasn't long before Kaiba had pinned the shorter duelist against the guardrail. Kaiba was filled with a need that he didn't understand and suddenly it wasn't enough to just kiss Yami; he wanted to feel more, needed to experience more and his actions gained a sense of urgency.

Although Yami had chosen the location because of its significance to him, it wasn't exactly the ideal location for what he wanted to do next. "Inside?" he suggested breathlessly, reminding himself to keep his hands from roaming.

Maybe it was a bad idea, but Kaiba didn't feel like arguing with his dream self. Instead he turned away and started walking toward the elevator, keenly aware of Yami following right behind him. They entered the lift together and even though it was a short trip down, they resumed right where they had left off earlier, pausing only when they heard the quiet noise of the bell announcing that they had arrive on their floor.

When the doors slid open, Kaiba's bedroom at the mansion appeared instead of the main corridor of the Battle Ship. By this point it was the least surprising thing that had happened and Kaiba merely swore as he entered, figuring he may as well take advantage of the room's benefits.

Quickly following Kaiba, Yami started to ask, "Is this your—"

Kaiba cut him off with a curt, "Yes," not wanting to hear it or anything other than sounds of satisfaction. "Now get over here."

Yami didn't need to be told twice and he hurried to Kaiba's side with a growing sense of anticipation. He couldn't hold back his small noise of pleasure when he felt Kaiba's hands on him and Yami had to restrain himself a little. It was so tempting to start ridding Kaiba of his clothes in order to speed things up, but Yami feared what moving too fast might do; that didn't stop him from slipping his hands under Kaiba's shirt, though.

The instant Yami's slender fingers came into contact with Kaiba's firm stomach, any thoughts of taking it slow were banished from both of their minds. Kaiba's body was still feeling hypersensitive because of the experiences lingering from the priest and that small amount of contact was enough to bring his desire to the forefront as Yami lightly caressed him.

Neither could get out of their clothes fast enough as they stripped each other down while they stumbled over to the large bed. It still wasn't enough and Yami didn't wait for his cue to get on the bed; he had waited long enough. He didn't want to come across as desperate, but how many times had he longed for this opportunity over the past few months? If he missed this chance, he would have an eternity to regret it and that was something that he couldn't suffer through.

Kaiba didn't want to lose face by stopping halfway through, even if it was only a dream. There was no way that he would lose to Yami, especially at something like this. Banishing any sense of hesitation or modesty, Kaiba gently pushed Yami against the sheets as he kissed him aggressively in a battle for dominance. He tensed when he felt Yami's arms wrapping around his neck, but he forced himself to relax; this was a dream and he could do whatever he wanted to. Still, even though he had seen plenty of dreams with Yami in sexually compromising situations, this one felt different somehow. It almost felt real, but it was easily dismissed because of what Seto had just forced him to endure.

He was determined to differentiate his experience from the priest's and that thought guided Kaiba's every action. There was no desperation in his movements; instead he was taking his time in exploring Yami's body, trying his best not to catalogue the differences between his and the pharaoh's appearance. This wasn't about that and so he resolved himself to enjoying the pleasures of Yami's body as much as he could. There was no point in showing any restraint in a dream and Kaiba found himself more willing to relinquish control because of the aftereffects of the priest's actions.

Using light touches and teasing flicks of the tongue, Kaiba worked Yami up into a tortured frenzy that had him gasping and moaning for more. It was immensely satisfying watching Yami's self control slip as he became completely dependent on Kaiba for his pleasure and he continued prolonging the experience for that reason. It might have been a shameless way to react, but Yami just couldn't bring himself to care about it at the moment; his every thought was filled with Kaiba and the feelings he was causing and that left room for little else.

There was no sense of love or adoration in Kaiba's eyes as he looked up at Yami and that was reassuring in some strange way. It was further proof that he wasn't Seto and that he really was _the_ Kaiba Seto who refused to acknowledge his link with the priest. At one point it had hurt Yami to hear Kaiba continually reject their connection, but now it was exactly what he wanted. That challenging look of arrogant, smug satisfaction was the one he had been missing and it excited him further to be pinned underneath that confident gaze as Kaiba attacked every one of his erogenous places with vigor.

Every time Yami moaned, "Kaiba," it spurred him on even more, knowing that it was him and him alone causing that blissful expression instead of the idiot priest. It drove him to be relentless in his foreplay, nipping at Yami's sensitive skin when Kaiba thought his attention was starting to wander, withholding pleasure when he wanted to push his rival further into the depths of sexual abandonment. He wanted Yami to know just who was in control and if it was possible for him to obliterate the memories of the priest from his mind, Kaiba was determined to make it happen. It was impossible to erase three thousand years of longing in one night, but Kaiba wanted to make Yami yearn for something more, something that not even the priest would be able to give him. He may have lost every card duel to Yami, but Kaiba was confident that this was one battle that he was going to win without a shadow of a doubt. He might even be benevolent enough to allow for a rematch—maybe even the best out of three—but that would have to wait until they had finished the first round.

Kaiba had seen plenty of situations thanks to that annoying bastard of a priest and he knew that it wouldn't be much longer before Yami lost his patience and decided to take control of the situation. There was no way that Kaiba would allow that to happen and so he did the only other thing he could think of to stop such a thing from occurring. He took Yami's member into his mouth and started applying the proper amount of suction that he knew the other wouldn't be able to endure for very long.

Yami's back arched off the bed at the action and he could barely stop his hips from thrusting into that wet warmth that had him yelling Kaiba's name. His fingers immediately sought purchase in Kaiba's hair and he resisted the urge to try and guide the movements; then again, he didn't really need to.

When Kaiba thought that the other was getting a little too complacent in his enjoyment, he started teasing Yami's entrance with one of his fingers and he chuckled around the length in his mouth at the warning about his nearing completion. Undeterred, Kaiba continued mercilessly, slipping a finger into his tight hole and swallowing Yami's fast release afterwards. Licking his lips free of the last drops of cum, Kaiba slowly brought himself up to meet Yami face to face, smirking at the unfocused lusty gaze that met his.

Even though his member was completely flaccid as a result of Kaiba's ministrations, Yami still wasn't satisfied and he moaned breathily, "More," as he engaged in a rough kiss that he tried to dominate in his hazy passion. "Please, Kaiba…"

He wasn't sure how Yami managed to say such things without coming across as begging, but Kaiba was more than happy to oblige the demand. He slipped a second finger in without warning, causing Yami to break away from the kiss with a wordless cry as his body pushed down on the sensation to try and draw him in further. "This isn't what you really want, is it?" Kaiba murmured as he lightly sucked on Yami's earlobe before bighting down hard on it, enjoying the accompanying shout. Under normal circumstances, Kaiba would never say such things, but just this once he was having fun making Yami say such embarrassing things.

"All of you," Yami managed to say, his body already setting its own pace against the fingers that were tempting him with the knowledge of what was still in store for him. "Fuck, I want all of you, Kaiba…"

Somewhere in the back of Kaiba's mind, the logical part of him was arguing against ever giving all of himself to anyone, but he was too caught up in the moment to care about such annoying thoughts. No, all he could think of was how much he wanted to be inside of Yami at that moment and he wasted no time in making it happen.

Withdrawing his fingers from their attempts at preparation, Kaiba slammed himself into Yami's entrance with a loud shout that was echoed by his rival. Not giving Yami any time to adjust, Kaiba started a fast and furious rhythm that had them both moaning at the intensity of pleasure they were deriving from it. When he felt Yami's legs wrap around his waist, Kaiba instinctively guided them up to his shoulders, altering his position to allow for deeper penetration that had them both becoming gradually louder as they continued.

It was almost too much for Yami to take as Kaiba kept pounding into him and he started stroking himself to heighten his pleasure as his body eagerly kept up with the harsh pace. The action irked Kaiba a little and he forced Yami's hand away as he slowed down with a look that sent a shiver down the former pharaoh's spine. Leaning forward to speak lowly in Yami's ear, Kaiba asked in a husky voice, "Are you that ready for it to be over?"

"No," Yami gasped as his body shuddered in response, his hips thrusting upward to try and resume from where Kaiba had stopped, "it just feels so good…"

"Wouldn't you like it to feel better?" Kaiba questioned, punctuating it with a hard thrust that caused Yami's body to react in turn.

There were no words needed for a response and Kaiba once again began his exquisite torture of denying Yami to the point of pain, only to resume a near frantic pace that kept bringing them both closer to the brink of release. Yami was slowly losing the ability to speak and he was reduced to mere moans and wordless cries that made Kaiba smirk in satisfaction as he observed what he had caused the other to become. Still, it was becoming a bit much even for Kaiba to take and he stopped playing games as he grasped Yami's hips in order to steady himself.

Kaiba set a new rhythm that consistently brushed against the place inside of Yami that he knew he would make him cum and wasn't disappointed with the response it earned him. It was more than Yami could handle and he came again with Kaiba's name on his lips, repeating it over and over again as the pleasure continued to wash over him in waves. Knowing that he was the one who had caused Yami to lose himself that completely was immensely gratifying to Kaiba and it was hard to resist his own release. Yami's muscles were pulling on him so tightly and it won out against Kaiba's self control as he came hard, moaning a name that shocked them both into stillness, "Atem…"

It took a moment to register in his mind of how Kaiba had just addressed him. "Did you just call me…?"

"Atem," Kaiba repeated in confusion, unsure of why the name had slipped out unknowingly. He had never even heard it before, so where had it come from? "Why did I…?"

Yami answered Kaiba's unfinished question with a breathless, "Because it's my name," before engaging him in a fierce kiss. He wasn't sure if Kaiba could remember because the name had finally been recovered, but that didn't really matter to him at the moment.

"You can't possibly be serious," Kaiba said with a snort. Out of all of the wrong names to moan, he had somehow picked the right one? He had never even heard the priest say that particular name, although it somehow felt right, felt like it fit Yami. "You honestly expect me to believe that—"

Interrupting him with another kiss, Yami demanded, "Say it again."

Kaiba was about to protest, but he didn't once he realized how he could toy with Yami. Withdrawing from the warmth, Kaiba smirked at Yami's unintentional whimper. Shifting his position in order to lean down, Kaiba licked the curve of Yami's ear as he murmured, "Atem," to see what kind of reaction it would earn him. He wasn't disappointed with the way it caused Yami to moan and he relished the expression in those crimson eyes when he finally pulled back to look.

For the first time, Yami finally understood what Kaiba had meant when he said, "I earned this name." He had been through so much in order to reclaim his name that had been lost to time and it was for that reason he identified with it. Yami didn't see, "Atem," as the pharaoh he used to be, but more as the person he had become through his experiences. The way Kaiba said it made Yami shiver in pleasure and he wanted to hear it again.

Kaiba was shocked when he suddenly found himself on his back with Yami straddled over top of him. He didn't know how Yami had managed to switch their positions, but it made Kaiba feel extremely uncomfortable. "What are you doing?" Kaiba demanded, deciding to conserve his energy to overthrow Yami when he least expected it.

Ignoring the question, Yami asked the same question that he had that night on the Battle Ship's roof deck all those months ago, "What's your real name?"

"Why do you want to know?" Kaiba questioned, subtly shifting under Yami to try and get comfortable.

"I'm curious," Yami answered with a shrug. "I don't want to call you by the priest's name and the other one is your adoptive father's. I just want to know what your true name is."

"What difference does it make? It's not like I associate that name with myself," Kaiba said dismissively.

Smiling victoriously, Yami countered, "Then it shouldn't matter if you tell me, right?"

Yami's expression seemed so earnest that Kaiba couldn't help but want to answer him. It wasn't like anything was going to happen if he did, but there was still some level of trepidation about it. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little curious about how it would sound if Yami said it. "Satoshi," Kaiba finally told him, forcing himself to keep looking at Yami instead of adverting his gaze.

"Satoshi," Yami repeated, letting the name roll off of his tongue. Caressing Kaiba's cheek, Yami gently smiled down at him, hoping to ease the look of distrust that he saw. "It suits you."

"Hn," was all Kaiba responded with, although it seemed that his body was deriving pleasure from the sensual way Yami kept saying his name. Well, either that or the torturous way Yami was moving his hips when he leaned down for another kiss.

Yami was pleased when he felt Kaiba's member slowly starting to stiffen once again and his own desire was still strong. He decided to help move things along by stroking Kaiba's cock in encouragement, earning him fast results. Seeing Kaiba like that made Yami want to take him, but he knew that it would never happen, not even in a dream. Kaiba Seto submitted to no one and Yami would respect that.

When he decided that it was time, Yami positioned himself over Kaiba's cock and slowly started lowering himself onto it with a sharp gasp. Kaiba's body tensed as he was once again surrounded by that tight warmth and it took more willpower than he would have liked to admit to not start moving right away. He couldn't resist resting his hands on Yami's hips as he continued sheathing Kaiba inside of him.

They both exhaled a breath that they hadn't known they were holding in once Yami was situated comfortably on top of Kaiba. Any time Yami shifted slightly to reposition, he could feel the jolt of pleasure through him and it was hard not to react. It wore at Kaiba's patience because between the muscles that were encouraging him to move and the delicate way Yami arched his back and neck, it made him want to ravish the shorter duelist. "So are you going to keep sitting there or are you going to do something?" Kaiba asked with an edge of sarcasm in his voice.

Instead of answering with words, Yami lifted himself almost completely off of Kaiba before slamming down hard with a loud cry of ecstasy. There was no more waiting after that and Kaiba began thrusting upward with his hips to match Yami's rhythm. It felt a little awkward at first and it didn't help that Kaiba kept getting distracted by the way Yami looked with his mouth partially open, his head thrown back as he shamelessly enjoyed the bliss.

There was less talking as they moved closer to the brink of their release. Their stamina was already exhausted and the hard pace Yami had set caused them both to cum within minutes. Yami slumped forward a little and braced his hands against the bed on either side of Kaiba as he panted in an attempt to catch his breath. He didn't want to move any more than he had to and Kaiba seemed inclined to do the same.

They enjoyed their afterglow in silence and it was only once Yami had calmed down that the enormity of everything hit him. If he lost tomorrow's duel, everything would come to an end. He would no longer be the mou hitori no Yuugi, he would never see their friends or Kaiba again and that thought hurt more than anything else. Could he really give everything up now?

Sensing the shift in Yami's mood, Kaiba raised himself up into a sitting position with some amount of difficulty since his body wanted nothing more than to rest and bask in the feeling. Before he could say anything, Yami had thrown his arms around Kaiba's neck and started hugging him tightly. Without realizing it, Kaiba returned the embrace and became somewhat concerned by the way Yami was trembling; he got the impression that it had nothing to do with sexual desire. "What just happened?" Kaiba finally asked since he had obviously missed something.

"I'm sorry," Yami whispered as he hid his face against Kaiba's neck. He realized just how cruel it was to show Kaiba the things they could have had when there was no chance for them to ever happen. Would it even make a difference to Kaiba? Once again, Yami had let his own selfish desires cloud his judgment and now Kaiba was going to have to deal with the consequences when he was gone.

"Explain," Kaiba commanded coldly, ignoring the growing feeling of dread forming inside of him.

Yami still couldn't look at Kaiba as he sighed, "It all ends tomorrow."

"So you said earlier," Kaiba reminded him irritably. "Care to elaborate this time?"

"If I lose tomorrow, it's all over."

Kaiba snorted at that and Yami pulled back to look at him questioningly. "Don't be ridiculous," Kaiba said with a haughty laugh. "The only one allowed to defeat you is me and since we're not dueling tomorrow, your title is safe for one more day."

Despite the darkening feelings, Yami couldn't help but chuckle at the very Kaibaesque response. Still, some part of Yami fervently wanted that to be true. He gently pressed his lips to Kaiba's in a surprisingly tender kiss that he refused to let escalate. "I just wish I could have seen you one more time," Yami told him wistfully.

Something inside of Kaiba froze at that statement and he didn't know why it sounded so foreboding. He had to quell the rising fear that something was going to happen to Yami and it had him cursing the priest once again because of the emotions that were still carrying over even now.

There was more that Yami could say, but what was the point? Kaiba would just think it was another part of the dream and he wouldn't believe anything that Yami had to say. Yami refused to selfishly force his feelings on Kaiba when nothing could come of them, so he settled for another bittersweet kiss, knowing that it could very well be his last. "Thank you for letting me know what it was like to be alive," Yami whispered, trying to hold back the rest of his emotions that were threatening to show themselves.

Now Kaiba was really lost; nothing Yami was saying anymore made any sense. He was about to say something derogatory, but the haunted look in Yami's eyes stopped him. Absentmindedly brushing one of Yami's blonde bangs away from his face, Kaiba accidentally voiced his thought out loud, "Why does this feel like goodbye?"

"Because it is," Yami replied with a lingering kiss that made Kaiba learn a new form of heartbreak that had nothing to do with Seto's emotions. "I'll see you next time, Kaiba."

He could already feel himself being pulled out of the dream, but Kaiba stubbornly held on in order to ask, "What does that mean?"

"No matter how long it takes, I'll find you again," Yami promised, kissing Kaiba until he faded away into nothing.

* * *

Kaiba bolted upright in bed, breathing erratically as the memory of the dream came back to him. He couldn't even begin to question what he had seen in his dream, but there was no denying the aftereffects. Resting his forehead on his bent knees as he wrapped his arms around his legs, Kaiba attempted to control of his breathing as he tried to will his erection away. Kaiba's mind was still reeling from it all and he was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of his bedroom door being thrown open with a bang. "Mokuba?" he asked as he looked up, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Nii-sama!" Mokuba exclaimed as he rushed to his brother's side. His initial announcement was temporarily forgotten when he saw how pale Kaiba was. "Wait, are you okay? You don't look so good…"

"I'm fine," Kaiba answered, shifting slightly to make one hundred percent sure that his younger brother didn't notice that he was still aroused from the dream. "What's wrong?"

"We have to go to Egypt!"

Kaiba blinked without comprehension as he numbly repeated, "Egypt?" There was no way he heard his brother just ask to go to that country out of all countries. "We just got back to Japan last night…"

"I know, and I really appreciate you bringing me back, nii-sama. I normally wouldn't ask, but this is an emergency!" Mokuba insisted with a sense of urgency that worried Kaiba. "I jut called Yuugi to tell him that we came back and he said he was getting ready to go to the airport with everyone! There's no time!"

Kaiba's worry was quickly mutating into an icy pit of dread that was effectively waking up the rest of his body. He was still feeling sluggish from jetlag and he still wasn't entirely comfortable with the fact that he had decided to return to Japan because his brother had wanted to, "Go home," as he put it. And now he wanted to go to Egypt? Since when? "We can talk about this later," Kaiba told him through a yawn. He was far too tired to deal with such nonsense.

"No, we have to go now!" Mokuba persisted. "It'll be too late if we wait."

"Too late for what?"

"The mou hitori no Yuugi is going to—"

The last bit of tiredness disappeared from Kaiba as those words cut through everything else. He didn't mean to interrupt his brother, but he hadn't been able to control his reaction of, "What did you just say?"

Mokuba had his older brother's full attention, but suddenly he didn't think it was such a great thing. The intense look in his eyes was almost frightening, but Mokuba didn't look away. This was too important, whether his brother would admit it or not. "Yuugi said that he was going to duel against the pharaoh's spirit that lives inside the Millennium Puzzle and if the mou hitori no Yuugi loses, he will probably return to the afterlife!" Mokuba explained, trying not to show any emotional reaction to his older brother since that would be detrimental to getting his way.

Suddenly certain aspects of his dream were starting to make sense, but that did little to comfort him; it was actually having the opposite effect. The whole situation was starting to unnerve him and he was fighting against the rising fear that maybe Yami really would be leaving. He needed to snap out of it and quit letting the dream have such a significant impact on him, but it seemed that was easier said than done. "He won't go," Kaiba said softly, which surprised Mokuba.

"Why not?" Mokuba asked innocently with a slight tilt of his head.

_Because he said as much himself_, Kaiba thought. _He didn't belong there, so why would he change his mind now?_

When Kaiba heard the echo of the priest's voice answering, "You," he was overcome with a violent urge. Even if that were true, it didn't matter because of one very important thing.

"He will not lose," Kaiba said with absolute certainty. "Yuugi will never be able to win against him, so what are you worried about?"

"I still want to go watch," Mokuba told his older brother with a pleading look. "Please, nii-sama?"

Kaiba hated that hopeful gaze; he caved almost every time because he couldn't deny his younger brother happiness. "Let me think about it," Kaiba said with a heavy sigh, knowing that it wasn't all he was going to be thinking about now that he was awake.

"But, nii-sama—"

Giving his brother a fierce warning look, Kaiba cut him off with an authoritative, "Don't make me repeat myself."

Realizing that a tactical retreat was his best course of action, he respectfully acquiesced, "Yes, nii-sama," before leaving his brother's room to return to his own. It was only after Kaiba heard his door shut that he allowed himself to have any reaction.

Taking a deep breath as he dropped onto his back, Kaiba stared up at the ceiling with a blank expression. Just what the hell was going on right now? First the strange dream, then Mokuba's stranger request—it was too much to be coincidence, but Kaiba refused to believe anything else.

He didn't want to go to Egypt, but if he refused to go because of the dream, that would seem even worse than going in some ways. If he went, it would prove that the dream was meaningless and that it had absolutely no impact on Kaiba. There was no way that Kaiba was going to allow something as insignificant as a dream dictate his decisions. Although if he went to spite his dream, wouldn't that also prove that it had some influence over him?

It was a troublesome thought and Kaiba pushed it aside in order to consider his brother. For whatever reason, Mokuba considered the Yuugi-tachi to be his friends and Kaiba knew that they were part of the real reason his younger brother had wanted to come back to Japan. So it was only natural that Mokuba wanted to go with them on their journey, right? He momentarily considered letting Mokuba go with Isono, but he could already hear his younger brother protesting that Kaiba also had to go. That was ridiculous, though. Kaiba didn't _have_ to go. If he never saw Yami again, then—somehow, Kaiba couldn't finish that thought. That cloying pain made itself known and Kaiba rolled over as if to escape from it.

Kaiba tried to be logical about the situation. If the Yuugi-tachi hadn't even left to go to the airport, that meant their flight was still several hours from take off—that was if it even departed on time. There would probably be a delay due to the hard rain that was pouring down and then there were the security checks to deal with and customs once they landed in Egypt. They would all probably stop at their hotel to drop off their things and freshen up before heading to wherever the duel was being held. That gave Kaiba several hours to maneuver around and he could still make a few of his meetings that he had already set up for that day. Maybe he could arrange for a couple of meetings to be held if he actually decided to go; ever since it had come to light that Duel Monsters had ties to ancient Egypt, the country had been trying to break into the market.

Suddenly the trip to Egypt didn't seem so suspicious when it was tied to a Kaiba Corporation venture. His brother would be happy, the trip could be good for business, and he might even get a duel out of it once Yuugi finished embarrassing himself by failing. Those were much better reasons than his idiotic desire to see Yami, because there was no way that Kaiba would go to a foreign country just to meet up with his rival.

Ignoring his warring sensations of foreboding and excitement at the prospect of meeting with Yami in real life, Kaiba finally got out of bed and headed to his shower. He had other things to do before an ill-advised trip to Egypt and he would only go once they were done—if he decided to go, of course.

He'd think about the dream on the flight over there; he needed to focus on the task at hand and not the memory of Yami's lithe body as he—that had to stop….

Cutting his thought off before they got any further, Kaiba sighed heavily as he realized just how long today was going to be.

* * *

Yami opened his eyes and blinked rapidly as the inverted staircases came into focus. Had he really reached Kaiba through such a method? Was it possible to feel so great and so terrible because of the same action? Apparently, the answer was, "Yes."

"_Mou hitori—I mean, Atem!"_ Yuugi called out to him loudly, stirring him from his emotional haze. He had been pulled unnaturally and unwilling from the dream and it was still a little disorienting for Yami. _"Guess who that was!"_

"_Who?"_ Yami asked mechanically, his mind still too distracted to pay proper attention.

Yuugi might not have completely understood what was going through Yami's mind, but he knew that something had changed the day Kaiba had left and he hoped that the news would comfort the former pharaoh. _"Mokuba-kun!"_ Yuugi exclaimed in excitement, temporarily forgetting his nerves about what would be happening later that day. _"He's back in Domino with Kaiba-kun!"_

Yami hadn't been expecting to hear that announcement and it made him feel even more uncertain about his decision to leave. _"He—I mean, they came back?"_ Yami asked in disbelief. Had Kaiba really come back to Japan?

The slip up didn't go unnoticed by Yuugi, nor did the sudden flux of Yami's emotions. _"They got back late last night and he wanted to hang out with us now, but I told him that we were leaving."_

Why would Kaiba have come back now after all this time? _"Is that so?"_ Yami commented neutrally. There was no point in getting his hopes up about anything, but he couldn't stop his desire to see Kaiba again.

"_He said he was going to ask Kaiba-kun if they could meet up with us in Egypt,"_ Yuugi said, surprised at the reaction it earned him.

Yami's first feeling was shock, although it quickly gave way to resignation. There was no way that Kaiba would willingly agree to go to Egypt, even if Mokuba was the one to ask him. Still, that didn't change the fact that a small part of Yami hoped again all odds that Kaiba would be there in Egypt. What would it be like to return to the origin of their souls? No, Yami couldn't let himself get too excited for something that would never happen. As much as he wanted it, the dream would have to suffice. What would he even say if Kaiba did show up at the final dueling ground? His true feelings would be a burden to Kaiba and Yami just couldn't do that to him.

Yuugi could sense Yami's internal struggle and he softly started to suggest, _"If you want, we could stop by and see them before we…"_

"_No,"_ Yami refused despite his longing to see Kaiba again. Yami needed to stay strong and he feared that his resolve would waver if he saw Kaiba one more time. He had come too far to turn back now.

* * *

**A/N:** I don't know if any of you have ever had a dream where every door leads to a different and unrelated place, but those are really bizarre and disorienting in my opinion.

So was that really Seto with Kaiba or was he just imagining it? I'll leave that up to you to decide, heh. But I got the feeling that Seto would have used that technique to reach his pharaoh in dreams when he was away on missions, thus Yami would have learned about it firsthand.

I will say this: there is a reason that I'm still referring to him as Yami in this story. The reasoning behind it will have to wait until the third part of the series if I continue on with it.

Also, hopefully no one minded the Seto x Kaiba thing; it came as a bit of a surprise to me, too. I wrote it at work and when I went back to type it later that night, I had a moment of, "Where the hell did that come from?" As for the unseen dream reference to the sword fight, Seto was trying to help Kaiba see that there was a difference between physical pain and emotional pain. How successful he was is unknown, though.

The next chapter will take place in Egypt. The time frame has to take into account time change between Japan and Egypt, thus accounting for the day/night differences. Other than that, I will add nothing other than it's probably one of the most emotional things that I have ever written. So if the conclusion to _Everywhen, Everywhere_ made you cry, then you might want to prepare tissues ahead of time.

**FINAL PART: Sealed Away**

_No matter how much his heart cries out, "Stay," he will never say it. When the present becomes the past, will the pain fade away then?_

The conclusion will be posted next **Wednesday, June 11th**, so please be sure to read it then. In the meantime there will be something on a much more uplifting note (comparatively, anyway) on **Sunday, June 8th** when I post the next chapter of _Another Lesson_.

I can't wait to hear your thoughts on this chapter! I've loved the really thought-provoking responses and it's been such a pleasure writing back to you all at length! Thank you for the encouragement and hopefully you enjoyed this chapter.


	4. Part IV: Sealed Away

**A/N:** For those of you who are unfamiliar with the manga, I've uploaded the two pertinent pages from volume 38 of the manga. You can find them at my **livejournal, username kamiyashi**, so please feel free to drop by and friend me if you feel like it. I intend to start using it more, so maybe this will be good motivation for me.

And now for the conclusion of this arc of the _Endless Loop Series_.

* * *

**Part IV: Sealed Away**

Kaiba stared out the window with a scowl, still annoyed that he had caved to his brother's request. The busy streets of Cairo were passing by in a blur and Kaiba smugly noted that none of it felt familiar because of the priest. His mood quickly soured when he realized that was probably only because Seto's Egypt had looked far different.

He settled further into his seat as he glared at the back of the driver's head. At first Kaiba had thought Isono had arranged for it since the brothers had seen the driver holding a sign with, "Seto," written on it immediately after exiting the airport. When the man revealed that Isis had arranged for him to meet the pair at the airport to transport them to the sacred dueling grounds, Kaiba had almost refused to get into the car. There was no way that Isis had been able to foresee his arrival in Japan back when she still possessed the Millennium Tauk, but how else had she known?

Only his brother's pleading gaze changed Kaiba's mind; he already felt bad enough for the delays in getting to Egypt. His last meeting had gone over schedule and he had left a few hours later than he had originally intended. Mokuba hadn't said anything about it, but the disappointment was evident in his eyes.

The further away they got from the city, the more anxious Kaiba became. He never should have agreed to come to Egypt, but it was a bit late for regrets now. What the hell had he been thinking? No matter how vehemently he insisted that he was only accompanying his younger brother for Mokuba's sake, Kaiba knew that part of him had simply wanted to see Yami again. He hated that fact, but it still remained frustratingly true.

What was he even planning on saying? There wasn't exactly a protocol on how to handle confronting a spirit after months of ignoring him, so Kaiba had to figure out something and fast. The view outside was becoming nothing but sand as the modern buildings faded from sight and every mile made Kaiba feel increasingly nervous. What the hell was he supposed to do?

At least he had the length of the card duel as a time buffer. They were probably going to show up halfway through the battle, but that was fine with Kaiba. It gave him more time to prepare himself for what would come afterward. He already knew the outcome of the battle, although he was a little curious about how Yuugi and Yami intended to fight when one of them wasn't exactly real. If Yuugi was playing the duel in his mind, Kaiba had better things to do than watch the kid's facial expressions change. "Why the hell did I agree to this?" Kaiba muttered with a heavy sigh.

Mokuba nervously looked up at his older brother and wondered if he was supposed to answer the question. Kaiba hadn't been looking at him when he spoke, but Mokuba still felt the need to softly reply, "Because it's important."

"Hn," Kaiba said dismissively with a snort. "Important for who?"

Sounding mature beyond his years, Mokuba answered, "For all of us." Even though his brother would never admit to it, it was definitely important to Kaiba, too. If he really didn't care, nothing would have swayed Kaiba once he made up his mind. Mokuba knew that Kaiba was just too stubborn to admit that the mou hitori no Yuugi was the closest thing to a friend that he had, but that was just how his older brother was.

Kaiba didn't say anything to that, mostly because he couldn't refute the statement. It was yet another thing that irritated him and he resumed his silent staring out the window. Kaiba Seto was supposed to care about no one other than himself and his little brother, so why did he concern himself with Yami?

He was so lost in his own circular thoughts that Kaiba didn't notice when the car finally came to a stop. It was only when he heard the driver say in heavily accented Japanese, "We've arrived," that Kaiba realized where they were. This part of the desert didn't look any different than the other expanses of dunes they had already passed, and yet something about it made Kaiba shiver despite the heat.

"Nii-sama, do you want me to bring your briefcase?" Mokuba volunteered, scrambling out of the car with it once his brother nodded. He reverently carried it, knowing that Kaiba's Duel Disk and deck were inside and Mokuba couldn't wait to see his older brother duel against the mou hitori no Yuugi.

The sense of foreboding from that morning returned full force and Kaiba watched as the extended Yuugi-tachi exited from an underground passage. It was only after Kaiba drew closer that he noticed that they were all crying. None of them had noticed him yet and Kaiba decided to make himself known by condescendingly asking, "Is defeat that painful?"

Yuugi looked up and squinted against the bright sun in order to see Kaiba. The tears started anew as he struggled to say, "No, it's just that he—"

It was only when Yuugi went to touch the Millennium Puzzle out of habit that Kaiba noticed its absence. "Where is he?" Kaiba demanded harshly, disgusted when the rest of the Yuugi-tachi started sniffling as well. "Where the fuck is Atem, Yuugi?"

Hearing Kaiba say Yami's true name startled Yuugi and he stared at the taller duelist who had come even closer. He hadn't told Mokuba over the phone and there was no other way for Kaiba to have found out, so Yuugi was more than just a little confused. "Kaiba-kun, how did you know that was his name?"

Hearing Yami referred to in past tense sparked a strange fear in Kaiba and an irritating desire to see that the former pharaoh was fine and very much present. "Answer my question," Kaiba commanded coldly, his patience having reached its limit.

"I—I don't know," Yuugi stuttered with a sniffle. "He walked through the doors and then—"

Isis interrupted to explain, "He returned to the place he belonged, Seto."

"No!" Kaiba growled, startling everyone. "He doesn't belong there!"

Approaching Kaiba in order to ask a question meant only for him, she looked him in the eyes when she spoke. "Is it that he doesn't belong there or that he doesn't belong there with _him_?"

Kaiba clenched his hands into tight fists, willing himself not to lose control in front of everyone. He glared at her with all of the hatred and anger he felt at the moment. "Isis, I'm warning you—"

Laughing quietly as she lightly touched the place where the Millennium Tauk used to rest, Isis showed no signs of being intimidated. "At least take comfort in the fact that some part of your soul will always remain with him," she told him solemnly before returning to Yuugi to say her goodbyes.

_Comfort_? The mere idea of it had Kaiba fuming. How was he supposed to take comfort in the fact that Yami was with Seto? No, what Kaiba wanted was for Yami—no, he wasn't supposed to want anything! He wasn't supposed to want Yami by his side, but he thought his rage was going to boil over at the thought of never seeing Yami again. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen! Yami couldn't possibly be gone. True, he wasn't technically supposed to exist, which would negate the impossibility of disappearing, but still. No, there had to be an answer in the underground duel ring, something that the rest of them had missed.

With his decision made, Kaiba walked purposefully toward the stairwell, causing Yuugi to yell, "No, Kaiba-kun! It's too dangerous to go in there!"

Mokuba rushed after his brother, but was stopped by Isis. "No harm will come to him in there," she reassured them, although they still looked wary of her promise.

Everyone watched in silence as Kaiba slowly disappeared into the dark passage and they all wondered the same thing: what was wrong with Kaiba?

Oblivious to the group's concern, Kaiba carefully made his way down the stairs, shivering as his fingers ran over the hieroglyphs on the wall. When he reached the landing, Kaiba finally had a little light to see his surroundings. The candles didn't provide much to go by since most of them had been blown out by the impact of the stone tablet's destruction, but it was enough.

Kaiba couldn't shake the feeling that he had been to this place before and he cautiously approached the giant stone door with the eye that had decorated all of the Millennium Items. Without understanding his own actions, Kaiba reached out and pressed his palm against the stone and was instantly shown a brief image of Yami walking into a bright light toward a large group of people who were waiting for him on the other side of the door. For a moment Kaiba thought he saw Seto smirk at him, but the image faded too quickly for him to be sure.

He refused to accept that something had happened to Yami. First off, there was no way that he would lose to Yuugi, so what had happened? Yami wasn't the type to just give up, so what other reason was there for him to have been defeated?

Kaiba tightened his hand into a fist and he banged it hard against the stone, trying to shock some sense back into himself. The pain caused him to wince, but did little to distract him from the problem of Yami's disappearance. "You were never real," Kaiba whispered to the darkness, almost as if trying to convince himself. But if Yami wasn't real, then why was the pain? Why did it hurt so damn much? There was a crushing pressure in his chest and suddenly Kaiba found it hard to breathe.

They would never finish their battle and that angered Kaiba. He had finally found a worthy rival only to lose the opportunity to duel against him. There would always be other competitors, but he inherently knew that no one else would ever make him feel so alive, feel so passionate in the midst of a fight. Would there really never be another chance to face off against Yami?

None of it was making any sense to Kaiba. Why had Yuugi been able to beat Yami? The other thing that Kaiba didn't understand was how Yami could just walk away from it all. Wasn't he always lecturing about the importance of friendship? So why did he leave everyone to return to a time that he said he no longer belonged in anymore? Hadn't he told Kaiba in his dream that he wanted to see him one last time? "Then why didn't you wait?" Kaiba demanded angrily, his nails digging into his palms.

The answer was simple: Yami probably thought that Kaiba would never have followed him to Egypt. What reason would he have to think any differently? Suddenly Kaiba was filled with a remorse that was borderline guilt. If he had come back to Domino sooner, would Yami have still left? Would it have changed anything? Was this what the priest had meant about Kaiba being responsible for changing Yami's mind about where he belonged?

Kaiba wanted to be angry at Seto for stealing Yami away, but that was ridiculous—especially if the former pharaoh had gone willingly. Had Kaiba's stubborn pride really cost him the only thing he had ever wanted?

His mind instantly rebelled against the selfish desire. Kaiba Seto was not supposed to want anything, but for some reason or another, something in him had fixated on Yami. It was wrong, but that changed nothing.

What did he want, anyway? Somewhere along the way it had become about more than just the duels. Did he really want something like those dreams for himself? That was impossible and yet…

Kaiba was filled with a sense of desperation that confused him. Had he actually just considered trying to recover the Millennium Puzzle from the gaping cavern it had fallen into in order to revive Yami? Somehow he knew that it would never work because Yami had moved on, but there had been that momentary glimmer of hope.

_Hope_? The very thought of it made Kaiba sneer at the ridiculousness of it. If Kaiba was going to, 'hope,' for anything, it would be to return to his senses. He had wasted too much time as it was with such ridiculous nonsense. Yami had apparently moved on and Kaiba should do the same, but for some reason he was still rooted to the spot.

The memory of Seto saying, "It seems that I have lost him in two lifetimes," came to mind and Kaiba struck out at the door with his fist. His bones cracked in the silence and he could already feel himself starting to bleed from his flesh scrapping against the stone, but he paid it no attention.

Kaiba refused to admit defeat, but it was becoming exceedingly difficult not to. He had lost to his former incarnation because Yami had chosen Seto over him. The past that he hated had defeated him by claiming Yami once more and Kaiba was having a hard time finding a victory for himself. He had been defeated in every way and it angered him because there would never be a chance for a rematch. Redemption would never be his, nor forgiveness. Then again, he had never earned it for his past transgressions because of Gozaburo, so why should Yami be any different?

_Because he is different_, Kaiba's mind answered, stubbornly refusing to refer to him in the past tense. Yami had always been different and held a place for Kaiba that no other had ever occupied, although he wasn't sure how that had happened. At some point Kaiba had even begun to enjoy Yami's company, but never again would that be allowed.

He was never supposed to be anything more than a rival, but Yami had somehow become something else. Kaiba would normally have berated himself for such foolishness, but there was no point now that Yami was gone. It shouldn't have been hard to accept that someone who was never real was now no longer in existence and yet it was proving harder than he would have ever imagined.

As much as Kaiba had protested Yami's existence, it was hard not to acknowledge him. That was because Kaiba had felt Yami's warmth and he could not deny it; strangely enough, he had never tried to. For a short time he had experienced the proof of Yami's existence, even if it had required Yuugi's body to act as a medium of sorts. He had never known that level of ease and Kaiba wondered if he ever would again.

No, he wouldn't allow himself to be so vulnerable ever again. _Wait, vulnerable? _he repeated in his mind, unsure of where that adjective had originated. Kaiba Seto was never vulnerable; he couldn't afford to be. And yet Yami had worked past some of his strongest barriers without Kaiba even being aware of it. Was that because Yami had seen into his heart when he had subjected Kaiba to the Punishment Game? But if Yami had…if he had actually done such a thing, then he would have known what leaving would do to Kaiba.

Everything important to Kaiba had been taken away from him throughout his life and it left him unable to trust in anything other than himself. His parents, his childhood, his innocence, and even Gozaburo had all been ripped away from him. As much as he hated his adopted father, Kaiba had a begrudging sense of respect for the bastard in some ways; there had been a reason it had hurt the day he had stopped calling him, "father." It was just another lesson from Gozaburo, another thing taken away. Kaiba's enemies had tried to kidnap Mokuba on numerous occasions and there had been several attempts by other companies to take over Kaiba Corporation, but those events had always been under his control. And now Seto had taken Yami from him. Would the priest have still succeeded if Kaiba had fought back?

Kaiba had been so confident in Yami that it hadn't seemed possible for any other outcome and yet he had been defeated and returned to the priest. Maybe if he repeated it enough times, it would finally sink in that the unthinkable had actually happened.

Why was he struggling with this? He was quickly becoming annoyed with his newfound sentimentalism and Kaiba needed to stop. His behavior was appalling and he was grateful that there were no witnesses to his stupidity. Things could not be allowed to continue and he challenged himself to prove that none of this really mattered. Maybe it was a good thing that Yami was gone. He would no longer be a distraction; out of sight, out of mind. Now Kaiba could resume his normal life and pretend that none of this had ever happened. Besides, he was too busy to duel, so what did it matter if his main rival was there or not? Kaiba had no use for the past and if that was where Yami had chosen to be, then Kaiba had no use for Yami, either. Yami had made his decision, so now it was time for Kaiba to make his.

_He's gone, so get over it_, Kaiba told himself harshly, completely unprepared for the effect his words would have on him. It almost felt as if he had been punched in the stomach and his eyes widened in shock. Instantly Kaiba chastised himself for his own reaction. Hadn't he already known that? Thinking about the possibility of it and acknowledging it were apparently two very different things.

He forced himself to say out loud, "He's gone," and Kaiba could hardly believe that it was his voice that spoke those words. His tone lacked the authoritative announcement that he had intended; instead it was filled with weakness and wavered in disbelief.

Kaiba didn't understand the intensity of his own reaction. There were so many varied and overwhelming emotions when there should have been none. It was almost as if he were still under the influence of the priest and yet Kaiba knew that it was just him reacting; somehow that made things worse. No, this wasn't happening! Kaiba Seto was not going to be reduced to such a state over a single person who technically didn't even exist!

His resolve couldn't compete with the rush of feelings inside of him, unfortunately. It hurt more than all of his previous losses to Yami combined and Kaiba stared blankly at the stone in front of him as he sank to his knees, softly repeating, "He's gone."

_What will you do when you lose him?_ the priest's voice taunted in Kaiba's mind and he narrowed his eyes in reaction. Kaiba belatedly realized that he was trembling, but he could always blame that on the cooler temperature of the underground arena. There was no way that he would be physically affected by all of this. And yet the pain was intense and Kaiba felt a tightness in his throat when he accidentally whispered, "You're gone."

It was only then that Kaiba realized just how much he had lost. He closed his eyes to steady himself as he struggled to regain control, leaning forward to rest his forehead against the stone doors as his voice once again betrayed him with a sorrowful, "Atem."

Kaiba furrowed his eyebrows as he saw another vision, but he refused to open his eyes for fear of it disappearing.

Yami turned when he thought he heard someone calling his name from the other side of the door. He started to take a step back, but was stopped when Seto grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing?" Yami asked with the slightest hint of annoyance in his tone.

"_You belong here now," Seto reminded, his grip tightening on Yami's slender wrist._

_Yanking himself free, Yami told him, "It might be aibou," as he started walking back over to the door. Seto just frowned and said nothing as he watched the pharaoh's retreating form._

_Once he was close enough, Yami reached out and touched the doors, stretching his senses beyond to discover who had tried to summon him for a final time. He stared in disbelief when he realized that it was Kaiba and not Yuugi who had called out to him and Yami pressed against the stone in an attempt to get closer. "You came," Yami said breathlessly with great joy that soon turned to sadness. If only he had waited just a little longer…_

_As if sensing his thoughts, Seto approached him and gently rested his hand on Yami's shoulder to give it a reassuring squeeze. "You cannot undo what has been done," Seto reminded him, although there was a slight edge in his voice as he examined the doors that had brought his pharaoh back to him._

"_I know," Yami confirmed to appease the agitated priest, touching his hand lightly before letting go. He subtly gestured for some distance and Seto begrudgingly complied; only then did Yami return his attention to Kaiba._

_Concentrating every ounce of spiritual energy into his actions, Yami tried to reach Kaiba beyond the doors between them. Gently caressing Kaiba's cheek, Yami willed his words to reach him as he once again promised, "I will find a way back to you." He could feel the faintest hint of Kaiba's complicated emotions and Yami wished for a way to comfort him. Attempting the impossible, Yami used the last of his rapidly depleting energy in order to brush against Kaiba's lips, hoping that his warmth reached across the divide. "Kaiba, I—"_

The disconnect was abrupt and Kaiba made a quiet noise of protest. He could still feel the gentle pressure on his lips, the warmth of the caress, and could hear Yami's voice softly in his ear. Even if he had just imagined it, some pathetic part of Kaiba wanted—no, _needed_—it to be true. It didn't matter if the masochistic side of him used it against himself later; for the time being, it was the last thing of Yami he possessed and he stubbornly clung to it like a spoiled child. The warmth had been so familiar, but the lingering sensations were already starting to fade away into memory, just like Yami himself would.

Kaiba slowly opened his eyes and he was confused by the fact that the world suddenly looked so blurry. It took him a moment to understand that it was because his eyes had started to water, but there was no was no way that they were tears because Kaiba Seto did not cry. He had probably just been down there too long and the dust and debris from the stone tablet's collapse had started to get to him. It was a logical deduction, but they still wouldn't stop leaking.

It was only when he heard himself taking a shuddering breath that Kaiba realized that it had nothing to do with the dust. Leaning back and sitting to relieve the pressure on his numb legs, Kaiba rubbed his eyes and stared in disbelief at the tears that defiantly remained on his hand. He was crying? But that was impossible! He hadn't even cried for his own parents because he had wanted to set a good example for Mokuba to show him that he could rely on his strong older brother. And now he was breaking down over someone as insignificant as Yami?

Why couldn't he stop the errant tears from falling? Was it really that upsetting to him? That painful? Apparently it was, because Kaiba could not get back in control. He was disgusted by the sound of a sob breaking through and echoing through the dark room, but he was having a hard enough time stifling the noise, let alone stopping the emotional outburst. His body shook from the outpour of emotions, some dealing with Yami while others were a result of things suppressed for far too long and Kaiba had to give up the fight against it; it was exhausting enough as it was without expending the extra energy. Kaiba curled up within himself, hugging his knees to his chest as he hid his shame from anyone who could possibly witness his humiliating reaction. Why couldn't he stop?

How many nights had the priest cried over the passing of his pharaoh? Would Kaiba end up being just like Seto, turning more twisted and desperate with the passing of time? He wanted to believe that he was nothing like the priest, but Kaiba was starting to fear that they were more alike than he would ever care to admit.

And still his tears continued to defy him. When would it be enough? What was their purpose, anyway? They did nothing to ease the hurt, to help deal with the loss; if anything they were only serving to make him feel worse about the whole thing. Yami was not worthy of such tears and yet they continued to fall in his honor, dampening the fabric of Kaiba's pants in the process. He could barely breathe because of the crushing weight and he couldn't bear to think that he would have to live with such feelings every day.

It was so intense and Kaiba had to wonder if everyone felt things so deeply or if it was a result of him not allowing himself to experience things normally. He was suddenly grateful for his limited emotional scale because paralyzing bouts like this were completely unacceptable. Kaiba had mourned for little in his life and yet he felt like another part of him was now missing, buried within the depths of the sacred dueling ground. This was never supposed to happen and yet there was nothing he could do to change it.

Unable to do anything else, Kaiba continued to wallow in his grief, knowing that he would never again allow himself to do so. Eventually his tears stopped as suddenly as they had begun and he sniffled quietly in the darkness. It took a monumental effort, but slowly Kaiba managed to rein himself and his reactions in, walling himself off in the process while swearing to never make the same mistake again.

Yes, he would condemn Yami to memories hidden behind his strongest defenses and never again would Kaiba have to suffer through such indignities. After this, Kaiba just had to keep moving forward without looking back and dwelling on such things. He had no one to depend on but himself and his priority would always be his younger brother and Kaiba Corporation. Kaiba needed nothing else and he certainly didn't need someone who had betrayed him by leaving. The only path he should be concerned with was the one that lay in front of him and continuing to sit in a dusty tomb wasn't exactly the best way of going about such plans.

Doing his best to make himself presentable, Kaiba tried to wipe away the evidence of his weakness; the others could never know and he didn't want to worry his brother. Standing up on unsteady feet, Kaiba swayed for a moment before reaching out to steady himself on the stone doors. Allowing himself one final look, Kaiba couldn't stop himself from whispering, "Goodbye," before he turned to walk away.

This would not shatter him, nor would it break him in any way. Kaiba Seto would continue to move ahead on the path he forged and he would not allow anyone or anything stand in his way. Confident that his emotions were sufficiently under control for the moment, Kaiba walked toward the exit with his head held high. He had come too far to turn back now.

When Kaiba finally reemerged into the daylight, he blinked rapidly to get over his momentary blindness. He could hear his younger brother calling out to him and Kaiba braced himself for the impact of Mokuba throwing himself against him. Kaiba still staggered at the movement and he tried not to flinch when he felt Mokuba start crying as he said, "He's gone, nii-sama. He's really gone!"

Hesitantly resting one arm around Mokuba, Kaiba didn't risk saying anything other than, "Yeah." His voice was too unsteady, his pain was too ready to make itself known and Kaiba refused to lose it in front of his brother. It was almost easier to control himself now that he knew there were others watching, but Kaiba still didn't completely trust himself after his unseemly reaction earlier.

Mokuba looked up at his older brother and he could have sworn that Kaiba had been crying at some point. Or maybe it was the dust that had made his eyes look so bloodshot? There had been a pretty big cloud of it coming out of the passageway when they had first arrived, but Mokuba couldn't be sure. He had never seen his brother cry before, so it was hard to identify what he was seeing. "Nii-sama, are you okay?" Mokuba asked in a small voice, knowing how much his brother hated that question and yet it had to be asked.

"Of course I am," Kaiba answered quickly, although his voice lacked its normal arrogant conviction.

"If you say so, nii-sama," Mokuba muttered before burying his face against Kaiba's stomach again. There was an almost vacant, hollow look in Kaiba's eyes and it scared Mokuba a little. He knew that Yami had been important to Kaiba, but it was a little surprising to Mokuba to see his older brother looking like that.

Frowning slightly at his younger brother's tone that implied Mokuba didn't quite believe him, Kaiba still felt the need to apologize, "I'm sorry that you didn't get the chance to see him one last time." It was yet another failure on Kaiba's part and he could only hope that Mokuba would forgive him one day.

Mokuba had been disappointed about it originally, but when he saw how much it was upsetting his brother, his own feelings had become inconsequential. "It's okay," Mokuba told him with a brave smile. "Yuugi told me what the mou hitori—I mean, what Atem wanted to say to me. It was kind of like hearing him say it…"

Appreciating what his younger brother was attempting to do, Kaiba decided against any of his normal replies. There was no point in asking why had they even bothered to come to Egypt because Kaiba already knew the answer. And what good would it do to explain to Mokuba just how different Yami and Yuugi really were? It just didn't matter anymore.

Against his better judgment, Yuugi slowly approached the brothers in order to talk to Kaiba. He cleared his throat to get their attention and decided that it would be easier to start with the younger one. "Mokuba-kun, can I talk to Kaiba-kun alone for a moment?" Yuugi asked shyly, avoiding the glare he knew was probably aimed at him.

Looking up at his older brother for guidance, Mokuba only agreed when Kaiba subtly nodded his consent. "Okay," was all Mokuba said before he ran over to the rest of the Yuugi-tachi who were standing on the top of a dune.

Yuugi got the sense that Kaiba was looking through him rather than at him and it made him nervous about what he wanted to say. "Uhm, Kaiba-kun…"

"What?"

Taking a deep breath, Yuugi did his best to relate the message Yami had left for Kaiba. Skipping the pleasantries and inquiries into Kaiba's well being, Yuugi got straight to the point; no need to make it any more awkward than it already was. "He wanted you to know that he fully intends to keep his promise."

"Promise? What promise?" Kaiba scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Yuugi did his best to hide his smile at those words; they were exactly what Yami had predicted Kaiba would say. "The one he made last night?" Yuugi said uncertainly, not really sure how Yami could have talked to Kaiba since they had only found out that morning that the brothers had returned.

"_What_?"

Flinching at Kaiba's tone, Yuugi forced himself to maintain eye contact. "The only thing he told me was that you would know what he was talking about," Yuugi explained. "He said that you wouldn't believe him, but he meant it."

There was no way that his dream from last night had been real and yet Yuugi was referencing it. No, surely Kaiba was just being overly analytic about it. "That's impossible," he growled, not willing to confront such a thing yet.

So far everything that had happened Yami had already planned a response for, but Yuugi still wasn't comfortable with what he had to say next. "He also…if you still want proof, he—well, he told me to say something else," Yuugi stuttered, stumbling through his words because of his embarrassment.

"What proof could you possible have?" Kaiba asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at the blushing boy.

"He said that if I said, 'Thank you for letting me know what it was like to be alive,' that you would know what it meant," Yuugi dutifully related, unaware of the full impact the sentence had on Kaiba.

He could barely manage to reply with a simple, "Oh," as Yami's words from the dream struck him deep. Had it really been more than just a dream?

"Uhm," Yuugi timidly started to interrupt Kaiba's thoughts, "I don't know what he promised, but whatever it was, I know that he'll do it."

"He can't," Kaiba accidentally commented out loud. There was no way that Yami would ever come back and Kaiba refuse to delude himself into thinking otherwise.

If Yuugi didn't know any better, he would have sworn that Kaiba almost sounded bitter about the fact that Yami might not keep his word. "I don't really understand what he meant," Yuugi admitted, "but it was important to him." He had assumed that Kaiba would have made a sarcastic comment at that, but there was only silence between them. "You were the only person he promised anything to, just so you know."

Overcoming his stunned state, Kaiba's voice sounded raw as he demanded, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Yuugi wasn't quite sure how to explain it without angering Kaiba. "He only told us goodbye and thanked us for always being there for him," Yuugi said softly, refusing to start crying again. "Atem didn't want me to tell you goodbye for him, he only wanted to make sure that you knew he intended to keep his promise to you. I'm not sure what that means, but you were always more than just a rival to him."

Did that mean that he hadn't promised to see the Yuugi-tachi again? Why would Yami only say such a thing to Kaiba? And what exactly did, "More than just a rival," mean? It just didn't make any sense. He automatically said, "Yuugi," out of habit, but there were no words that he could think of to say.

Sensing Kaiba's need for a distraction, Yuugi smiled up at him brightly as he offered, "We're all going to dinner now and I'd like it if you would could with us." He knew that Kaiba was probably going to reject him, but Yuugi still invited him because he also thought of the other teen as more than just a mere rival. Now that Yami was gone, it seemed more important than ever to try and get Kaiba to acknowledge the friendship that had slowly been building between them.

Kaiba was too preoccupied to be rude about his refusal. "Mokuba can go," Kaiba told him, which was about as passive aggressive as he ever got.

Knowing that now wasn't the right time to push, Yuugi simply nodded and said, "If you ever change your mind—"

"I won't," Kaiba interrupted him, glad for the temporary distraction from the doubts still swirling inside of him.

Shrugging, Yuugi turned to walk away, but he added, "If you ever want to talk…"

"Why would I?" Kaiba asked with a snort.

"You might need to one day."

"And what reason would you have to listen?"

Smiling at Kaiba over his shoulder, Yuugi simply said, "Because that's what friends do, Kaiba-kun."

Kaiba said nothing as Yuugi walked away and he stared at the retreating form. Left alone to his thoughts, Kaiba could already feel himself starting to shut out everything else. He didn't get very far before Mokuba returned to his side with a concerned look on his face. He allowed himself to be led to the cars, but he stopped short of the Yuugi-tachi. "Please come to dinner with us, nii-sama!" Mokuba pleaded. He didn't know why he was so afraid of leaving Kaiba alone at the moment, but Mokuba was worried all the same.

"Yeah, come on, Kaiba!" Jounouchi encouraged him, although all it did was further cement Kaiba's decision.

"I have work to do," Kaiba lied, knowing that even though he had things to do, they weren't going to get done any time soon.

Glancing between his brother and his friends, Mokuba tried for a final time to convince his brother to join them. "Please, nii-sama?"

"I'll see you at the hotel," Kaiba told him as he accepted his briefcase back from Mokuba.

He wanted to protest, but something in Kaiba's eyes stopped Mokuba from saying anything. There was nothing else that he could do besides watch his brother walk away.

Kaiba was not amused to see that Isis had positioned herself in front of the car door, forcing him into a conversation. "Move," he commanded, not giving a damn that she was the one responsible for providing it in the first place. Their luggage was in it and he was taking it back to the hotel whether she liked it or not.

"Remember that the pharaoh always keeps his word, Seto," Isis told him cryptically before stepping aside without complaint.

Kaiba didn't bother with a response and he quickly got into the car, slamming the door shut with more force than was necessary. Barking orders to take him to his hotel, Kaiba was relieved when the dark privacy glass rose into place and the car started the long journey back to the city.

At first he sat in a numb silence as he stared out the window at the desolate landscape, but that only lasted for a short time. The farther away he got from the dueling site, the worse Kaiba began to feel. He was forced to accept that everything was over, that there really was no going back now. No matter how much they told him that Yami would keep his promise, Kaiba knew that he would never again see him in this lifetime. It wasn't like he was going to live for another three thousand years, so what difference did an empty promise make?

He swore when the world started to blur again and he caught a tear on the side of his index finger to examine it. They served no purpose and yet they continued to fall from his eyes against his will. Kaiba knew that he was stronger than that, but it still hurt more than it should have.

As much as he struggled against it, Kaiba lost the battle again and succumbed to his overwhelming emotions. This would be the last time that he would ever allow it to happen and he let things take their course in the hopes that it would get it out of his system. Never again would he allow someone else to make him feel so weak.

He lost track of time as he continued to quietly weep, hating himself for letting it get so far out of control. At least he had the excuse that since it had been so long since he had cried that he had forgotten how to stop, but that thought was just as irritating. He was dimly aware that the salty tears were causing the wound on his hand from punching the door earlier to start stinging and that was annoying as well; he made a mental note to wash the blood off once he was in his room. Futilely wiping the tears away, Kaiba whispered, "Bastard," although he wasn't sure if he was referring to himself, the priest, or Yami.

When they came closer to the city, Kaiba straightened up and forced his emotions to submit to him. By the time they were nearing the hotel, Kaiba's normal stoic mask was back in place. Kaiba Seto needed no one and he certainly didn't need someone who had abandoned him to live in the useless past. It was only when he was certain that he was once again presentable that Kaiba consented to rejoining the rest of the world when they finally reached the hotel.

The check in procedure provided him with an adequate distraction and it wasn't until he was alone in his hotel suite that he was once again assaulted with his previous thoughts. He could hear the priest in his mind saying, "Then you do not deserve him." It was like a slap to the face, but there were no more tears left in him to shed. Instead he steeled his resolve; he would shower and wash the shame off of him, then sleep today's events away. In the morning everything would return to the way it was meant to be.

That thought should have pleased him, but it only made him feel hollow. Something was now missing, but Kaiba would just have to learn to live with it. There was no other option except to move forward.

Walking over to the massive windows, Kaiba looked out at the city from his high vantage point. A small part of him had feared that it might feel like home, but it mercifully felt just like any other city for him.

Resting his forehead against the cool glass, Kaiba sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. He had the rest of his life to pretend that Yami meant nothing to him, but for the moment Kaiba wanted to linger just a little longer in the memories of the warmth that refused to fade away completely. Until he opened his eyes, Kaiba allowed himself to relive those wonderful sensations, painful as they had become. He let the name, "Atem," slip from his lips for a final time before sealing it away behind his mental blockades with everything else that had happened.

Opening his eyes, Kaiba refused to slide any further into his emotions. He had things to do and work to take care of; he had to return to being Kaiba Seto.

There would never be any more tears, but something would always be missing in him.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I'm not really sure how much of a consolation it is, but I have decided on the encouragement of **barrie18** to go ahead with the third arc of this _Endless Loop Series_. I can't promise when it'll be posted and I don't want to reveal any details yet, but there will be something in the near future. I have most of the middle written, but the beginning and ending are mere ideas at this point. The first two arcs came together quickly and I want to spend a little more time on the third part, but I'll post an update in a chapter of _Another Lesson_ once I get a little farther on it.

Having said that, I'm not going to be posting a new story this Wednesday because I want a little more time to develop some other projects. I'll be back to Sunday only updates for a little while, so hopefully that's not too upsetting to you all.

Not a whole lot to add to this, other than the fact that otherwise you can see why part of me really wants to write a oneshot involving the anime interpretation of the final night when Kaiba is on the ship with the Yuugi-tachi on the way to the dueling arena. This was difficult to write and highly emotional, to say the least. I hope that you all enjoyed taking this journey, bittersweet as it has been. The third part should see a resolution of sorts, so please be sure to keep an eye out for it.

The next chapter of _Another Lesson_ goes up on **Sunday, June 15th**, so please continue to support that story!

I'm looking forward to finally getting to answer some of the questions everyone has had about this story, so please feel free to ask anything in the reviews! Thank you again for all of your kind words on this emotional and challenging piece, I really appreciate it. Hard to believe it's another story done, ne?


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